Aishiteru Vol2
by ero-sama 8669
Summary: Sequel to the first volume of Aishiteru. What will the two lovers Naruto and Hinata have face? Will they be torn apart or will their love shine through? WARNING: rated M for language, mild violence, and LEMONS. NaruHina. and others. Sakura Bashing.
1. Chapter 1

**This is a sequel to Icha Icha: Aishiteru. This is rated M for a reason. There will be language and maybe a lemon. You can expect it to be full of fluff. If you don't like fluff and lemons, PLEASE find another story. **

**Disclaimer:** **I do ****NOT**** own Naruto or Naruto characters. **_**Run and cries in a corner.**_** I do however own the plot of this story and any OC's.**

**Read and review.**

**Ja' ne!**

**Aishiteru Vol.2**

**Jutsu: Kagemane**

**Demon speaking: Rasengan**

_**Demon/**__Thinking/Flashbacks: Chidori_

Speaking: Jyuuken

Last names first, then first names.

(Eh, you'll figure it out)

**Chapter: 1 A dream and jealousy.**

_A young woman was sitting in a field, at the bank of a river. It was midnight and fireflies were flying above the water and over the various flowers that were scattered across the open field. The moon was shining brightly and in turn made the flowing river glisten and glow in a heavenly light. She looked to the sky, the stars seemed to twinkle and shine in the dark abyss. The light that was being reflected off the water, made her long, raven colored hair shine and the stars seemed to make her eyes twinkle in the moonlight. Her eyes were pupil less and pale, but were a beautiful shade of lavender with a slight hint of blue. She was wearing a lavender kimono that accented her womanly figure. It had images of white flower petals decorated into the design so that it looked like they were falling in the wind. A navy obi was the only thing that kept the kimono from falling off her petite body. A cool breeze swept past the field and made the grass look like waves cascading in the ocean. The air was cold and made her shiver. _

_She suddenly felt something warm and light being draped around her shoulders. She saw it was an orange sleeveless haori with black flames at the bottom._

_"Konban wa, hina-hime. Why are you out here all alone?" He grinned at her._

_"Naru-kun." _

_She stared at him. His blonde hair was still noticeable even in the dark, and his eyes seemed dance in the light given off from the water. It was almost like they were glowing. She could even see the whisker marks on his cheeks. He was wearing a black muscle shirt with black hakamas, held by an orange sash around his waist. He kneeled in front of her and they stared into each others eyes. _

_"Hai, hina-hime?" He asked quietly._

_He cupped her cheek with his hand; she put her hand over his. He leaned in to kiss her. She leaned to meet him half-way. The kiss was gentle, slow and passionate. Everything felt like time was slowly moving forward. They broke the kiss after a few minutes. Naruto stood up and held his hand out for her to take. She smiled up at him and took his hand. They walked to the river and took off their shoes._

_"Oi (Hey), Hinata, let's go swimming. It could be fun."_

_Hinata blushed, "B-but we don't have swimming clothes."_

_He just grinned, and started taking off his muscle shirt and pants until he was in his boxers. They were black with orange kitsune (Foxes) on them. Her blush doubled in color. "So, no ones around and we're alone."_

_He jumped into the river; it looked deeper than it looked. He came back up and shouted, "Come on, the waters alright." He waved to hinata to jump in, but she shook her head. "Alright, suit yourself."_

_He swam around and turned his back to her. Hinata stood up and looked around. She undid her obi and let her kimono drop to the ground. The only clothes she had on were her bra and underwear. She dived into the deep part of the river._

_'5...4...3...2...' Naruto was counting in his head up until he heard a splash. He turned around as hinata came up right in front of him. She was breathing heavily from exposure to the cold. She was shivering._

_"I-i-i-i-its c-c-cold." Her teeth were chattering. _

_Naruto held her close to his body to help warm her up. _

"_That better." He asked. _

_Hinata wrapped her arms around him and pressed her head into his chest. She nodded her head to answer him. She immediately felt warmer. It was probably due to her huge blush that was prominent on her face caused by their half-naked bodies pressed together. She was using all her will power not to look at the half-naked Naruto holding her close. _

"_You never answered my question you know." _

_Hinata looked up at him confused. "Nani?" _

_He chuckled. "I asked, what were you doing out here all alone."_

_Hinata put her face back into his chest and spoke. It was muffled and Naruto couldn't understand her._

"_Nani? Hinata tell me." He asked with anticipation in his voice. He used his hand to scoop up some water and pour it on her hair._

_She shook her head against his chest. He used his index finger and thumb to hold her face eye level with his. "Why? Is it bad?" _

_Hinata shook her head again. She opened her mouth to speak when something over naruto's shoulder caught her attention. _

"_Naru-kun, what's that?" Her voice had a sense of urgency that made Naruto let go and quickly turn around. When he looked…_

… _There was nothing there._

"_Hey hina-chan there's nothing there!" He turned back and saw Hinata wasn't there anymore. "Oi, hina-chan, where'd you go?!" _

_He heard her laughing, but she seemed slightly far away. He looked on the shore and saw his pants, and shirt was gone, along with hinata's kimono. The only thing left was his and hinata's shoes._

"_You have to find me if you want your clothes back."_

_Naruto was only in his boxers. He smiled and shouted. "Okay! Ready or not, here I come!"_

_He jumped out of the river and started running towards where he heard Hinata laugh came from._

_Hinata was carrying naruto's pants in her arms. She was wearing naruto's muscle shirt, which was big on her and stopped at mid-thigh. Her kimono was barely tied on her body. The blue obi left her kimono some what open and showed her legs. She was a short way away from the river, but close enough that she could see when Naruto jump out of the water and on to the shore. She saw how the water fell down his hair, shoulders, chest and abs. She started blushing, again. She hid in the tall grass that surrounded the area and was quietly laughing to her self. She places his pants on the ground and stood up._

"_Marco!" Naruto shouted._

"_Polo!" She shouted in reply._

"_I'm going to catch you! Dattebayo!" He sounded closer. Hinta saw a gold streak move across the tall grass._

"_No you won't!" She taunted._

_She started running; the grass came up to her stomach. Naruto ran up to her as soon as she took off. He made to grab her, but she started zigzagging every time he tried to grab her. They were laughing and having the time of their lives. Naruto came up with a plan._

'_Time to take an animal approach!' He thought to himself._

_He made it look like he tripped and fell face first on the ground. Hinata saw him fall and quickly ran to his side, but when she got there he was gone. She looked around and didn't see him._

"_Naru-kun, where are you?" She called out. Panic was starting to rush into her mind. What she didn't know is that Naruto was hiding in the grass, crouching like a lion stalking its prey. He quietly clawed the ground as Hinata unknowingly walked closer to him._

'_Just a little closer.' He thought._

_He pounced on her and made it so that he hit the ground and she wasn't hurt. Hinata let out a yelp of surprise. She closed her eyes waiting to hit the ground. When she felt herself land on something relatively soft, she opened her eyes. She was on top of Naruto and he was staring at her._

"_Now, about my pants." Hinata laughed into his chest. "Hinata, where are my pants?" His voice sounded more amused rather than angry._

"_Gomennasai, Naruto-kun. Your pants are no longer in my possession." She had a big smile on her face._

_He turned them over so that he was on top. His knee was between her thighs._

"_Really?" She nodded her head. "Okay, where are they?" His voice still filled with amusement._

_She looked away and said, "I don't recall." She put a finger on her chin, feigning ignorance. "Now, where did I put them? Was it over there or over there?" _

_Naruto looked at Hinata, looking over her body slowly, taking in her curves. The neckline of the muscle shirt she was wearing stopped just above her breasts, showing some of her cleavage. The half closed kimono showed her bare legs and her body was still wet from their swim in the river. The shirt clung to her every curve. Naruto moved one of his hands up her bare skin, slowly._

_She pretended not to notice, but in her head. 'Ah Kami-sama (God)… that feels so good.' _

_She inwardly sighed. She tried not to shiver as naruto's hand caressed her sides, under the wet shirt, and legs up and down agonizingly slow. Leaving a trail of warmth every where it went. He moved on to her neck, where he kissed from her earlobe to her collarbone. He moved some of her wet hair, so he could have access to more of her neck._

"_I think I may have lost your pants."_

_Naruto placed both hands on either side of her head. He had a loving and sly smile. "I don't think I need them anymore. Do you?"_

_Hinata was laughing as she shook her head._

"_Also, you still haven't answered my question. What were you doing out here all alone?" He placed kisses on her collarbone and was nearing her chest. He moved down to her cleavage, stopping at the shirts neckline._

"_I was waiting." She answered._

_Naruto looked at her, "For what?"_

_He moved so they were face to face. His face only inches away._

'_What was she waiting for?' He asked himself._

_Hinata moved her hand to his neck and used her thumb to caress the whisker marks on his cheek. He leaned into her hand to show he liked it. He closed his eyes to enjoy the soothing sensation. Hinata closed the gap between them and captured his lips. The kiss was so sudden and it took Naruto by surprise. Hinata was starting to question if it was okay to kiss him out of nowhere like that, that she began to pull away. Naruto felt her begin to pull away, so he started to kiss her back passionately. He licked her bottom lip asking her for entrance to deepen the kiss even more. She parted her lips and felt his tongue touch hers. A spark of electricity, like a genin-level raiton jutsu, shot through their bodies. They wanted to feel it again, so they brushed against each others tongues and they felt that spark. They continued to kiss, but unfortunately, the need for air was too great and they broke apart._

"_For you…" She said breathlessly._

_Naruto was confused and it showed. Hinata laughed._

"_I was waiting for you."_

_Naruto did something very unlike Naruto, he blushed. He leaned in to kiss her again. When their lips were a centimeter apart, Naruto felt something kick him in the side and off Hinata. He held his side as gasped for air and winced in pain._

"_Iiiiittttttaaaaiiiiiiii (Oooowwwww)!!!! What hit me?" He coughed and wheezed. He was kicked again in the ribs._

_Youkai (Demon)! How dare you touch my daughter!" The words dripped venom as he spoke. The voice belonged to the one and only Hyuuga, Hiashi, hinata's father. He turned his attention to Hinata._

"_Otou-sama (Father), what are you doing here?" Panic was setting in her._

"_YOU!" The anger was obvious in his voice. "Gallivanting around with that… THING! You're a Hyuuga, have some pride!"_

_She bowed her head in shame. Tears were threatening to fall down her face._

"_Leave her alone! You have no right to treat her like that. What has she done to you?" _

_Naruto's eyes turned red with slits, his whiskers became more prominent. He was standing, trembling in anger. Hands at his sides, his knuckles turning white from being clenched so hard and blood slowly dropping to the ground down his hands. His nails grew to claws and were cutting his palms._

_Hiashi faced the blonde and calmly spoke in a monotone voice, "She has doing nothing wrong to me, but failed in every aspect of being a Hyuuga. She has brought our clan shame by associating with you. Her sister, _**FIVE**___years her junior has mastered more of the Jyuuken than she has. She was defeated by a member of the branch family in the chunnin exams AND the fact that she can't even perform the simplest of tasks makes her _**WEAK**_!"_

_Every word made Hinata cry even more. Naruto was fucking pissed. He took a deep breath and released his fists. The cuts instantly healed. He looked at Hiashi with so much killer intent hiashi mentally backed up, but on the outside he was emotionless._

"**DON'T YOU EVER SPEAK ABOUT HER LIKE THAT!**_" He shouted. "You don't know her like I do. She IS strong. You just can't see how strong. She isn't like you, heartless and cold, she is kind and accepting. She always tries her hardest and works hard. She protects those precious to her and THAT'S strength and that's why I love her!"_

_Naruto stopped speaking and looked at him with steeled determination. Hinata stopped crying as he spoke and listened to him praise her. Her doubt about her abilities vanished._

"_If you believe that then you are a fool. If she was as strong as you claim she is then she would not associate with trash like you. Trash is trash and therefore can only be with trash."_

_Naruto called to Hinata, "Hinata do you think we're trash or are we something better?!"_

_Hinata looked at him. His face pleading for her to stand up for herself. She tried to speak, but her voice failed her._

"_You see even she believes she's trash. She is unworthy of being a Hyuuga, least of all its heir." Hiashi stared Naruto down._

_Hinata whispered, "N-n-no."_

_Hiashi didn't hear her speak, but Naruto did. He smirked._

"_We're not trash and I'll prove it!"_

_Hiashi slid into the Jyuuken stance. "Try it youkai."_

_Naruto slid into a horse stance with one arm near his head bent at the elbow and the other with the fist at chest level and bent at the elbow towards his body. They stared each other down. When the wind swept past the grass moved and in that moment they charged. They met in a flurry of punches and kicks. Powerful and fast. _

_Hinata couldn't stand by and watch so she activated her byakugan and attacked her father. Together they were quickly gaining the upper hand. Naruto and Hinata moving in perfect harmony. Each kick and punch was thrown as though they had practiced this over and over again. Naruto and Hinata kicked hiashi into the air. Naruto then nodded to Hinata and she ran to him. He intertwined his fingers together and put his hands low. Hinata jumped and with naruto's help launched into the air higher than hiashi. She started using open palmed Jyuuken strikes and hit hiashi in the gut numerous times, then Naruto appeared next to her and they both axe kicked hiashi and sent him plummeting into the ground. They landed next to each other on the ground._

'_How do they have that much power? It must be the Kyuubi-gaki (Brat) using his Youkai.' Hiashi thought to himself._

_He was up quickly as Hinata and Naruto attacked from two different sides. Hiashi activated his doujutsu and used one of the Hyuuga clan's famous jutsu._

"_**Kaiten!"**__ Hiashi spun and a dome of rotating chakra surrounded him._

_It repelled the two fighters and knocked them away. They got to their feet quickly, but when Naruto was to his feet hiashi was only a foot away and had his palm on his chest on the place where his heart was. He looked at hiashi and saw he had an evil smirk on his face. Hinata looked and saw Naruto cough up blood and slouch over._

_She whispered in disbelief, "N-n-naru-kun"_

_As if to add insult to injury hiashi used another of his clan's jutsu. "__**Hakke Rokujūuyon Shou!**__"_

_He called out the strikes. "Two palm… four palm… eight palm…sixteen palm… thirty-two palm… Sixty-four palm!_

_Naruto's body went flying and stopped when it hit a boulder._

"_NARUTO!" She screamed out._

_Hiashi laughed triumphantly._

(Cue Sadness and Sorrow)

_Hinata ran to his side. She dropped to her knees and put her ear to his chest and listened to his heartbeat…_

…_It wasn't there._

_She sobbed uncontrollably, her face buried into his still chest. The tears rolled down her face and on to his body._

"_Wake up…onegai (Please)…wake up. Wake up, open your eyes. Gomennasai…gomennasai, Naruto-kun. It's all my fault… it's all my fault." She sobbed as she tried to speak. _

_She heard the footfalls of her father coming closer and closer. She just stayed as she was not moving from her lover's body._

______________________________________________________________________

Naruto awoke as the sun filtered through his blinds. He felt something on his chest. Something heavy and he looked down. Hinata had her head resting over his heart and her arm draped across his waist. The blanket that was covering them all night had moved so that it just covered both of them from the waist down. He blushed as he recalled that last night's events. He rolled to his side taking the sleeping Hinata with him. Naruto watched as she slept with a small smile adorning her face. He let his hand glide down her arm and to her back and side where he massaged her hip. He heard her sigh in contempt. He kissed her forehead and looked at her again. He saw that she had tears falling down the side of her face.

He heard her whisper, "Gomennasai…Naruto-kun…my fault." Naruto was worried, _'What's her fault?'_ He asked himself. He started wiping the tears away and she begun to stir from her sleep.

Hinata felt something falling from her eyes. It was warm and wet. She realized it was tears. Then there was the sensation of something stroking the tears away. She opened her eyes and was immediately staring in sky blue eyes.

"Naruto-kun." Naruto looked at her with concern. Worry filled his eyes.

"Doshita? (What's wrong/the matter?) Why are you crying?" He continued to gently wipe away the tears as she told him what she dreamt of. When she finished telling him the events in her dream, Naruto pulled her close and made soothing, reassuring sounds to calm her down. She calmed in his embrace. She placed a hand over where his heart was and felt the steady, rhythmic beat.

"I will never let that happen." He placed a hand over the back of the hand she had over his heart and intertwined his fingers with hers.

Hinata looked into his eyes and spoke softly, "Promise?"

Naruto moved so he was on top of her, his hand still holding hers over his heart. He kissed her gently and said, "Promise, and you know me, I never break a promise."

Hinata nodded and used her free hand to pull him back to her lips and let her hand grip his blonde locks. The kiss was filled with as much of their love they could muster. After a quick parting, the kissing was becoming lustful and passionate. They were about to have a repeat of their previous night time activities. Naruto started to move down to her neck and to her chest; he nipped at certain sensitive spots on her collar bone and neck, getting the desired reactions from his lavender eyed love. Right before he reached his goal…

… There was a knock on his front door.

"Kuso (Damn It). I guess I better see who it is?" He looked at the clock and it read 9:45 am in bold red numbers and then at his lover with eyes that hoped she would say otherwise. The knocking on his door grew louder and more impatient.

As he started to move away from her she gripped the wrist that he used to hold himself up and got him to look back at her. What he saw gave him shivers. Hinata had a seductive smile on her face and a glint in her eye. He moved back to her and smirked.

"They'll go away after a minute." Naruto leaned in and picked up where he left off…

… That is until he heard, "BAKA, OPEN THIS DOOR NOW!!" It was sakura and unless he acted quickly she was going to break down the door and see Naruto and Hinata in a very embarrassing predicament. Naruto sighed and cursed under his breath as he sat on the side of the bed and put on his discarded boxers, pants, and a t-shirt. He turned to Hinata and leaned over to her.

"I'll deal with her. Why don't you jump in the shower? When she's gone I'll join you and then we'll go get some breakfast. Ok?" He really wanted to stay with her, but the pink-haired wrecking ball was about to break in. Hinata nodded and watched as Naruto walked out of the room.

She heard him shout, "Alright, I'm coming already, just a minute."

She got up and walked to the bathroom, after grabbing a towel and her discarded clothing. She turned on the water and entered after letting it warm up after a minute.

______________________________________________________________________

Naruto walked to the door. He tried not to think of Hinata in the shower, but he couldn't.

"Alright, I'm coming already, just a minute." He scratched the back of his head as he opened the door.

Sakura smiled and spoke in a cheery tone, "Ohayo, Naruto-kun."

Naruto stared at her, "I told you not to call me that. So, what's so important that you almost break my door down for?" He leaned against the door frame. He heard the shower go on.

Sakura obviously heard it too, and said, "Is someone here?" She tried to get around the blonde, but he wasn't going to let her.

"So what?" He really hoped that would leave. He was starting to sweat.

"Is it Hinata?" Naruto didn't notice the hidden disgust in her voice. Naruto just shrugged.

"Un, (Yeah) we were out in the rain last night and we ended up getting soaked, so we came here." He looked back into his apartment as he spoke.

Sakura smiled and started walking away. "Oh, be sure to tell Hinata that Neji is looking for her. Ja' ne." She walked down the stairs and out of sight.

As soon as sakura hit the street she started running toward her house. She had tears streaming down her face. She took a turn and ran toward the bridge where Team Kakashi would meet. She stopped in the middle of the bridge and laid her head on the rail. She cried all the while thinking.

'First Sasuke and now Naruto. If I had noticed him earlier and told him my feelings before he notice that Hyuuga weakling, then he would be mine and only mine.'

After Sasuke returned, he meet Kakashi's younger cousin, Hatake,Hikari and after a while, he fell in love with her. Hikari was a jounin, like a majority of the Rookie Nine and Team Gai. Sasuke always made sure every one knew that he was going to rebuild his clan with Hikari's help. After that Sakura turned her attention over to Naruto. She remembered that he was always there for her and when sasuke defected he was there to comfort her. She remembered when she tried to tell Naruto that she was in love with him.

_Sakura walked up to Naruto while he was training and told him how she felt and how she really wanted to be with him._

_Instead of jumping for joy he gave her a sad smile and said, "Sakura, a few months ago this would be the greatest thing to happen, but…"_

_Sakura was confused, "But?"_

"_I don't have those feelings anymore. I don't want to be your second choice and I'm tired of having unrequited feelings anymore. I've fallen for someone else. She has always been there for me and I never knew how much she meant to me until I saw that you mean nothing more than a sister to me. I just want us to remain friends. Ja ne!"_

_Naruto walked away as he waved with his back turned to her. Sakura couldn't believe what she just heard. Naruto had rejected her and was in love with someone else. She swore that day that she would make Naruto hers._

_A few days later, sakura was walking around town with a chûnin named Shinka, Seinaru. He was an average shinobi with jet black hair and grey eyes. He wore the common ninja attire consisting of a chûnin vest and blue ninja pants and his hitai-ate on his head. He was two years older than sakura, but she didn't mind. In fact she was just using him in a sad attempt at trying to make Naruto jealous. Seinaru was talking about his latest mission when pinkie spotted one of the men she wanted, but could never have, Naruto._

_Naruto was walking with Hyuuga, Hinata. They were talking and walking toward training ground 7. Sakura interrupted Seinaru and said, "Suimasen (Sorry), but I forgot there's something I need to do. Maybe I'll see you later, Ja ne (Later)!"_

_Sakura followed the blonde and the Hyuuga and watched as they began to train. They had been doing this for a few months now. They would meet and train together. Sakura thought nothing of it. She always thought Naruto would never get a clue about hinata's meet blow for blow. Their speed was incredible. She could hardly keep up. _

_Hinata got in a good hit and knocked Naruto back a few feet. He held his stomach and started breathing heavily. Hinata remained in her Jyuuken form and was also breathing heavily. The workouts they always had left her breathless and drained. Naruto stood in a basic taijutsu stance and charged. He feinted with a left and tried to land a right, but Hinata saw it coming and blocked then hit Naruto with a series of strikes. They both were panting, but they had smiles on their faces._

"_Ok, you win. You're getting better."_

_Hinata had a blush on her face from his praise. "Arigatou, N-naruto-kun."_

_Naruto sat down near the river and motioned for her to do the same. She sat down a little ways away from him, but still near him. They talked about training and other things._

'_I wish it could always be like this, even if I can't summon the courage to tell him how I feel.' Hinata inwardly sighed._

_She nearly jumped out of her skin when something nudged her in the side. She looked to the side and saw a little kitsune (fox). It was deep orange color with white paws and sky blue eyes. Naruto started laughing and Hinata did something she would usually never do. She glared at him. Naruto immediately stopped and looked away with an innocent face._

"_This little kitsune wouldn't happen to be yours would it?" She picked it up by the scruff of its neck and held it in naruto's direction._

_Naruto nodded and looked at the kitsune. "You were supposed to just say 'Hi.' NOT scare her."_

_Hinata put the kitsune down and smiled. "He's kind of cute. What's its name?"_

_The kitsune crawled onto hinata's lap and curled into a ball. Hinata started to pet the little kit._

"_His name is Koharu, but I call him Haru. I found him on a mission I went on in the mountains a while back. Since then, he's been my wingman. He helps me out with his cuteness." Naruto looked at the kit then Hinata. "Just kidding. You know, you're the only person I've seen him be friendly with. He doesn't let anyone, besides me, pet him or even hold him."_

_Hinata smiled, "T-that means h-he must t-trust me."_

"_Hinata can I ask you a question?" Naruto leaned back on his elbows and his legs straight forward. He looked at Hinata and she looked at him and nodded._

"_It's about a girl I know."_

_Hinata looked back at the kitsune in her lap and thought, 'Why is Kami-sama so cruel?'_

"_Is it Sakura?"_

_His next words surprised her. "No, it's about a different one. I've known this girl for a long time. She doesn't like violence, but will fight to protect her precious people. She is kind, thoughtful of others opinions, puts others before herself, beautiful…"_

_Hinata thought, 'Beautiful… it can't be me.'_

"…_intelligent…"_

'_There's no way it's me.'_

"_Strong, but has no confidence in herself. I'm going to change that…"_

'_Why is he telling me this for?' Inside hinata's heart was breaking and she wanted to leave._

"_She has long hair, beautiful eyes, a great personality and I don't mean to sound perverted, but she has a really good looking body from what I can tell. I really like her, maybe even love her, but when I try to tell her I get nervous and can't seem to tell her. Can you give me some advice?"_

_Hinata thought to herself, 'Might as well.'_

_She never looked Naruto in the eyes as she spoke, "Sometimes, actions are better than words. Maybe instead of trying to tell her you should show her how you feel?"_

_Naruto absorbed this and asked, "What if she doesn't care for me that way? I'm not smart or strong. Although she seems to think differently. When I was going to fight someone who could easily kick my ass, my confidence was shot. She told me that even though I may not be strong I still get up and try again and again until I succeed."_

_Hinata looked shocked and thought, 'That sounds familiar.'_

_Naruto leaned over and pet haru. He moved slightly closer to Hinata._

"_Do you want me to tell you who she is? You might know her." He looked up into her eyes._

_Hinata just wanted him to tell her so she could go home and curse Kami. "Who is she?"_

_Naruto just leaned toward Hinata. The shy girl's mind didn't function as Naruto brush his lips against hers and then captured her lips. Her eyes went wide and she slowly closed her eyes and as she realized that he was kissing her. The kiss was slow and cautious._

**-)(-**

_Over in her hiding place, sakura was crying silently. She inwardly swore to break them up and make Naruto hers. Sakura walked away in tears._

**-)(-**

_Naruto and Hinata parted. Hinata had a dark blush on her face. She had one thing on her mind._

"_You meant me?"_

_Naruto laughed and placed his head in the crook of her neck. "If I didn't mean you, I wouldn't have kissed you or used haru. So, do you feel the same way?"_

_Naruto breathed in her scent a moment longer before moving so he could her angelic face. He saw tears on her face and was going to start apologizing, but saw she had a smile on her face. He leaned forward so that their foreheads touched._

"_Will you be my girlfriend, Hinata-chan?" He asked._

_Hinata looked him in the eyes and said, "Hai (Yes), I will."_

_Naruto smiled, "Aishiteru, Hinata-chan."_

"_Aishiteru, Naruto-kun." They kissed again._

_Days later:_

_No matter what she tried, nothing would separate the couple. When Naruto and Hinata found out what she was doing, they both told her no matter what they would never leave each other. Then sakura did something low._

_She told them, "I'm pregnant with naruto's child."_

_Naruto denied ever touch sakura. Hinata walked right up to sakura and slapped sakura in the face._

"_Sakura, why do you want to ruin our relationship with such lies?"_

_Sakura started bawling. "He's mine and you took him. He loved me before he ever noticed you."_

"_He was never yours. He is a person not property. If you think of him as property then you don't really love him."_

_Naruto and Hinata walked away. Leaving sakura to cry and smash trees in the clearing._

Naruto closed the door to his apartment and walked back to the room and grabbed every thing he would need for his shower. He opened the door. A little steam had built up. He quickly took of his clothes and slid the curtain back slowly. He was glad he had a big shower now. He was awestruck at the sight before him. Hinata had her back to him. The she was under the spray, the water flowing down her hair and on to her back. Naruto watched the water roll down her back down her rear and her thighs. She was unaware of his presence. He quietly walked up to her and wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her gently into his chest. She turned her head and smiled at her lover.

"Is she gone?" She asked softly.

The only answer she got was Naruto kissing her.

'_I'll take that as a yes.'_

Hinata placed one hand on naruto's cheek and kissed him back. Naruto's mouth traveled to her neck where he nipped and sucked up and down her nape. Hinata moaned as he continued. Naruto caressed hinata's inner thigh with his hand as he massaged her right breast with his left hand.

Naruto grew more and more aroused with each moan that escaped her mouth. He turned Hinata so she faced him and kissed her again. He pressed her up against the wall and his body. They parted their lips and made the kiss deeper and more passionate. Hinata could feel his arousal on her thigh and wanted him even more than the night before.

Naruto's hands slowly drifted down from hinata's arms to her hips. He started to slowly grind his hips into hinata's making them moan. Hinata placed her arms around naruto's neck and kissed him with a passion. Naruto kissed her back with equal passion. He moved so he was directly in front of her and let his right hand glide down hinata's thigh and to her knee. He lifted her knee and positioned himself to enter her. Naruto entered her and they both moaned and broke the kiss. Naruto nuzzled Hinata's neck as he fully entered her.

Hinata was in minor pain from being entered, seeing as it was only her second time. Her arms tightened slightly around naruto's neck. Naruto began thrusting slowly and deeply into his lover. Hinata moaned shakily and she pressed her body into Naruto even more. Naruto took this as a sign to step up the pace. His thrusts became harder and faster. Naruto lifted his head and kissed Hinata. The battled for dominance as they deepened the kiss even further.

With each passing moment Hinata felt the same feeling as she did the previous night. Her lower stomach began tightening with each deep thrust. Naruto was feeling the same pressure, only the pressure was building in his groin area. The water had turned cold as the continued. The both felt they were near. With one final thrust Naruto reached his climax follow by Hinata. They both cried out their lovers names in the peak of their passion.

Naruto pulled out once the pressure was entirely gone. He let go of hinata's leg and they both held on to each other and not moving as they stood under the spray of the water. Their breathing was coming out as shaky pants. They feared that if they moved they would fall.

When they finally regain stability of their breathing and the looked into each others eyes, sharing one last kiss.

"Aishiteru, Hina-chan."

"Aishiteru, Naru-kun."

They turned up the hot water and finished their shower. They got dressed and walked out of the apartment. Naruto had his arm draped across hinata's shoulders and she was leaning into his side, her head resting on his shoulder. They began talking about what they where going to do at the party.

They were about to enter Ichiraku's ramen stand when they heard someone shout, "One day I'm going to be the Rokudaime Hokage then you'll see." Naruto smirked as he saw Sarutobi, Konohamaru arguing with Hyuuga, Hanabi. Hinata's younger sister. She was glaring at him, showing that she was superior to him.

"If you believe that you're delusional. You can't be Hokage. Only strong and competent shinobi can be hokage. You are too weak."

Naruto laughed, "People who think that usually wind up being proven wrong. Isn't that right, Hinata-chan?" Hinata agreed.

Hanabi glared at the couple. "Otou-sama is pissed that you didn't come home before curfew." Hanabi hoped this would make Hinata scared and show she was weak. Her voice was cold and emotionless just like her father.

'_Hanabi and Hinata are like polar opposites. They are so different.'_

"I don't really care. I'm no longer the heiress; I don't have to abide by those rules." Hinata stood confident and unafraid.

"Whatever. When you get home otou-sama will discipline you. Good-bye." Hanabi turned to walk away, she was angry that her sister was not afraid of their father like she used to be.

She walked past konohamaru and he blushed. He walked right beside her and said, "You know your kind of cute when your mad."

Hanabi froze in mid-step. Her head snapped in konohamaru's direction. She had a monstrous blush on her face. She started to twiddle her fingers. If she was trying to imitate Hinata she was a very good actor.

"I-i-I'm n-not…" Hanabi pushed konohamaru out of her way and ran home.

Konohamaru was on the floor staring in the direction that hanabi ran off to. He turned to Naruto and said, "Oi, boss?"

"Yeah, konohamaru?" He answered.

Konohamaru had a smile on his face, "Do you think I have a shot?"

Naruto and Hinata exchanged looks of amusement and laughed.

"Konohamaru if you can get my imouto-chan to blush and stutter, then I think you have a chance."

"I have to go see you at the party and Happy Birthday Hinata-san." Konohamaru ran toward his teams meeting place.

"Well… that was unexpected." Naruto scratched the back of his head.

"Yeah, but maybe it will be fun to watch how they will react to each other." Hinata smiled slyly.

Naruto was shocked, "You know before we were dating you would have never have said anything like that…" He paused and pressed his forehead to hers. "It's awesome." His shock turned into amusement.

They walked into Ichiraku's and ordered ramen. About half way through their meal, Uchiha, Sasuke and Hatake, Hikari walked in.

"What's up, dobe (Loser)?" Sasuke smirked. He was wearing a white kimono shirt and black hakama with his hitai-ate as a belt.

"Konnichiwa, teme (Bastard), what are you doing here?" Naruto smiled, but had noodles in his mouth.

"We're looking for that Haruno- ama (Bitch)." Hikari spoke with vemon in her voice and a small burst of killing intent.

Hikari was around the same size as Hinata. She was wearing a unzipped black chûnin vest with a small figure fitting, purple, v-neck, fishnet shirt with a silver undershirt and black ninja pants and a black choker around her neck that had a sword with a rose wrapped around it made out of silver and her hitai-ate, purple, around her forehead. She had silver hair that went passed her waist and stopped at her thighs. Her eyes were a dark purple.

"Konnichiwa, Hatake-san. Why are you looking for sakura? Hinata asked. Hikari was taken aback mentally that she didn't stutter.

"Hinata-chan, I told you, just call me Hikari. No formalities." Hikari scolded Hinata jokingly.

Naruto swallowed his ramen then spoke, "Hatake? Are you related to Kakashi-sensei?"

Sasuke gave Naruto a 'Are you serious?' look. "Hai, I am. Kakashi-nii-san and I are related. I'm his cousin. As for the reason why I'm looking for haruno is because she has something of mine. A necklace that was made for me by oji-san (Uncle). It has a gold chain and an amethyst stone in the shape of a wolf howling. He made it before he died during the last Shinobi War. It was the only thing I have to remember him by."

Everyone noticed how hikari was depressed and angry at the same time.

Sasuke decided to add his two cents. "If we wait long enough she might come looking for us and find trouble." Sasuke had a small menacing smile on his face.

Hinata had finished her ramen and looked at the clock on the wall. "Suimasen, but I have to go." She kissed Naruto on the cheek and ran home.

Sasuke and hikari looked at one another and nodded. They sat on either side of Naruto and sasuke ordered ramen.

"Sooo? Anything happen recently?" Hikari asked innocently.

"Nothing much? Doushite (Why)?" Naruto continued to slurp down his ramen.

"Something must have happened, for Hinata not to stutter around other people. Could it be that you two have gone all the way?" Hikari started laughing when she saw Naruto go bug-eyed and start choking.

Sasuke smirked as he slapped Naruto on the back. "Dobe, did you really think it wasn't obvious?"

"It must have been really good if it boosted her confidence up. Don't you agree Sasu-kun?"

"Hn." Was all he had to say.

"You know she could have had that confidence all along." Naruto drank some water to help the noodles go down.

"It must have taken a lot of confidence for her to go through with it."

"Different topic now." Naruto had a blush from the laughter he was getting from his friends.

Sasuke and hikari teased him until they finished their meal and left. Naruto paid for his meal, thanked Teuchi and Ayame and left to find a gift for Hinata. After walking around the shopping district for a while Naruto found the perfect gift. He walked into the shop and bought immediately. Then he went to train for a little while. All the time wondering how Hinata would react to his gift and the surprise he had in store.

**Well that's it. First chapter finished. Depending on how many reviews I get, I will continue. I have a poll on my profile. Check it out. Your opinion matters. Well your opinions help. Any ideas you want to send me, just send me a PM. Flames are welcome, but good reviews are appreciated.**

**Arigatou gozaimasu for reading.**

**Next Time: "A Fight and a Party begins!"**

**SEE YOU NEXT TIME!!! JA' NE!**

**(Cue Hinata's Theme)**


	2. A fight and a brawl begin!

**Yo! I'm back with chapter** **Two. **

**DISCLAIMER: I do NOT own Naruto…**_**runs to a corner and cries…**_**BUT I do own the plot of this story.**

**Warning: There will be lemons, violence, language and Spoilers. Side note: the spoilers will not follow the exact storyline and will occur later.**

**I thank the people who read and like my stories and it is my hope that you will continue to read and review. Remember flames are welcome, but good reviews are appreciated.**

**Arigatou gozaimasu, for listening. ^_^. JA' NE!**

**Icha Icha: Aishiteru Vol.2**

**Chapter 2: A Fight and a Party Begins!**

It was a quarter to seven and Naruto was making his way to the Hyuuga Compound. Naruto wanted to walk with Hinata to Sasuke's house in the Uchiha Sector, where the party was being held. The streets where covered in snow that had fell all day. The streets were empty except for a few people walking by. The snow crunched under his feet with each step. Naruto was wearing an orange dress shirt with a pair of black slacks and a black jacket to protect himself from the cold. He laughed quietly to himself as he remembered how he got ready for the party.

_Flash back_

_Naruto wondered his two bedroom apartment. His hair was dripping with water, but was caught in a towel draped across his shoulders before the droplets of water could hit the ground. A large towel was wrapped around his waist as he called out for his little furry roommate._

"_Oi (Hey)! Haru, where'd you go?" He scratched his forehead, wondering where his kitsune (fox) had gone._

_He walked into the room adjacent to his and quickly looked around. He closed the door when he didn't find haru. Naruto walked into his room and heard a noise coming from his closet. The sliding door to his closet was slightly ajar. Naruto grabbed a kunai (Japanese throwing knife) from under the pillows on his bed. He walked to the closet quietly and without a single creak of a floorboard. He threw open the door and was about to strike when his jaw dropped._

_Inside the closet was a little kitsune about up to Naruto's knee with dark orange almost brownish fur and white paws. The little kitsune had sky blue eyes. The little fox was currently chewing on any of Naruto clothes that it could reach, even going as far as to stand on its hind legs to reach higher. [A/N: that's one smart kitsune.]_

"_Haru, what are you doing?" Naruto dropped the kunai and grabbed haru, by the scruff of his neck as he went bolting passed him._

_The kitsune just looked at him with puppy dog eyes trying to get out of the trouble he was in. Naruto just look at the kitsune and then at his closest, which, by the way had clothes thrown every where. The kitsune tried desperately to escape his owners clutches._

"_Well at least now I know why my clothes have all those tears in them." He laughed as he set his furry companion down._

_Naruto picked up the clothes and saw an orange button dress shirt and a pair of black slacks that the kitsune had not torn up. He laughed to himself._

"_Arigatou, haru-chan, you just saved me some time." He grinned sheepishly at the fur ball._

_The kitsune just tilted his head and wagged his tail. Naruto got dressed and looked at the time it was 6:30pm_. (A/N: I don't know how far the Hyuuga compound is but justbear with me.)_ Naruto grabbed his jacket and walked out the door and said goodbye to haru._

He arrived at the Hyuuga compound and the first thing he saw was his girlfriend, Hinata. She was wearing a pale tan jacket that looked like the one she wore as a genin but, a larger size. She left it open and he could see she was wearing a dark purple v-neck blouse that hugged her slightly. She wore a mesh material underneath and she was wearing light blue jeans.

On her left leaning on the wall with his back to him, was Neji. He was wearing a white button dress shirt tucked into his brown slacks and bandages around where his cursed seal was on his forehead. He had a white ribbon tying the bottom part of his waist long hair, so it didn't fly around in the small breeze that was moving by.

Finally on her right was hinata's younger sister, Hanabi. She was glaring at him as he approached. She was wearing a black training shouzuko that was cut off at the sleeves with mesh underneath it and black training pants. When he waved, her glare intensified.

Hinata noticed him and waved with a smile. He smiled back. Neji turned to face him and only nodded as his greeting. He noticed the glare neji directed at him and thought nothing of it.

"What's up guys?" He noticed a small chakra spike and gulped when he realized the chakra spike came from neji.

"Uzumaki, may I talk to you for a moment?" Neji looked at his two cousins. "In _private."_ Neji stressed the word so Hinata would not eavesdrop.

Naruto nodded and followed the male Hyuuga until they turned a corner and were out of sight and earshot. Neji turned and faced the jinchuuriki (demon container) with a glare that could make the devil piss his pants and run away with his tail between his legs. Neji advanced and Naruto backed up into the wall. Neji grabbed him by the collar and pulled him up so they could see eye to eye.

"Naruto, Hinata-sama didn't come home last night. When I questioned her about it she said that she was with you. Now, if you want to live you answer truthfully. Did you and Hinata…have sexual relations last night?" Neji still held his glare but, a light pink blush appeared on his cheeks.

"Hai, I don't deny that we did." He spoke in a flat-matter-of-fact tone.

"Don't even bother trying to deny…" Neji blinked in confusion. Apparently he hadn't expected Naruto to just confess. "Y-you aren't going to deny it?"

He just shook his head at the Hyuuga prodigy. Neji's hold on the jinchuuriki loosened and his arms fell to his sides. Neji looked away in annoyance.

Neji sighed as he quickly ran a hand through his hair. "Do you really love my cousin? I swear if you hurt her…"

"Don't worry about a thing. I wouldn't do anything to hurt her. If anything I don't deserve her." Naruto admitted sadly. Neji looked at him with confusion on his face.

"Hinata means everything to me now. I spend my entire life trying to be worthy of her." His eyes told neji everything he needed to know.

" Alright, I'm going to go get Tenten now. I'll see you at the party. Ja ne, Naruto-san." With that Neji walked away, heading towards the west side of the village where Tenten resided.

Naruto let out a breath he didn't realize he was holding and started walking back towards the girls. When he turned the corner he saw that Hinata had a look of concern on her face. He just flashed one of his kitsune like grins and it seemed to calm her down. Hanabi, on the other hand, just rolled her eyes and turned away in annoyance.

'_Man, what an Ice Queen. You think she would be happy going to her sister's party.'_

Then a mischievous idea wormed its way into his head. He looked at Hinata and she noticed a mischievous glint in his eye. He picked up a handful of snow and packed lightly into a cone and silently walked behind hanabi.

'_Why does Hinata like that guy? Isn't he the one who was dead last in his class and just recently made chûnin after how long?'_ Hanabi continued to rant in her head and didn't even notice when Naruto placed the cone of snow on her head until she felt the cold on her head.

"There…a crown for the Ice queen! How does it fit, your majesty." Naruto had a huge grin on his face and was laughing.

Hinata tried to suppress a laugh as she looked at her sister. Hanabi was angry but, like a Hyuuga she didn't show any emotion and just glared. Naruto could feel the glare bore right through him and immediately stopped laughing.

"Gomen ne, it was just…"

SPLAT. A medium sized snowball hit him right in the face.

"…A joke." He finished lamely and wiped the cold snow off his face.

Hanabi and Naruto glared at each other and started to pick up snow. Hinata couldn't help herself and started laughing at her boyfriend and her sister. They looked at her then each other and had the same idea. With a nod they both threw snow at the unsuspecting Hyuuga. The snow hit its target and Hinata shook off the snow.

She smiled softly and said two simple words, "Payback time."

A simple joke turned into an all out war. Hinata threw snow at hanabi and duck behind Naruto. Hanabi threw snow at her sister but, ended up hitting Naruto. This continued for several minutes. Hinata, ducking most of the snow and pelting snow at her boyfriend and sister and Naruto getting hit by snow on both sides, hanabi managing to dodge all the snow thrown by Hinata but, getting hit by most of the snow thrown by Naruto.

"Ne (Hey) hanabi bet you can't hit me!" Naruto teased.

Hanabi threw a snowball straight towards him but, Naruto ducked at the last minute. There were gasps heard from the hyuuga girls.

"What's up? Why'd you guys stop?" Naruto looked up and saw the snow had hit the leader of the Hyuuga Clan…

…Hyuuga Hiashi. Naruto gulped as he backed away from Hiashi. He didn't miss the glare that hinata's father was giving him.

Hiashi wiped the snow from his face and addressed the three people in front of him.

"Hinata, when you come back from your…party, I want to talk to you about your disrespectful behavior toward Hirako-sama." He spoke with a monotone and his eyes seemed to berate Hinata.

Hinata stood beside Naruto and looked away from her father with a look of sadness and worry.

Naruto wrapped an arm protectively around her as he remembered what Hinata told him that morning about her dream. Hiashi noticed this and felt confused, but didn't show it.

"Uzumaki, I expect my daughter home by 2. I'll drop by in a while to give my daughter her present. There shall be no inappropriate behavior will there?"

Naruto shook his head.

"Very good, off with you two…" He paused, "and have a good time Hinata, hanabi…naruto-san."

With that hiashi walked away leaving three stunned teenagers staring after him. After an emergency session in each individuals head they concluded that hiashi was starting to go senile. But then again maybe he's changing for the better.

"Shall we go?" Hinata spoke after the shock wore off.

"Yeah, let's get going. Sasuke said that everything would be ready for you by the time we got there, so don't worry about a thing." Naruto had a huge grin on his face.

"By the way… what did you do to upset your dad? That's unlike you." Naruto asked innocently.

Hinata blushed in embarrassment and said, "Hirako-sama decided she had some say in my personal life and voiced her disgust for you. She said some very unforgivable things about you and me."

"What did you do?" He asked thoroughly interested.

"I told her that just because I'm able to find some one who loves me and doesn't go around sleeping with the younger servants, doesn't mean she can talk about us that way." She concluded with a redder tint to her cheeks, thinking Naruto would be ashamed of her behavior.

Naruto was dumbfounded and also impressed. Hinata was a lot bolder now then before they started dating.

He gave her a gentle peckon her forehead and laughed, "What did she do then?"

"She was speechless and wound up running to father cussing up a storm." Hanabi added.

They continued to walk. They had small conversations all they way to the Uchiha Sector of the village.

As soon as the gates were in sight, hanabi started walking a little a faster. The older teens watched her enter the gate and looked at each other with knowing looks.

"Ne, where's the fire?" Naruto asked sarcastically. Hinata giggled in response.

They entered the gate and Naruto was met with a giant ball of white fur jumping on him and knocking him to the ground.

"Aaahh, Kiba, get Akamaru off of me!" Naruto called out as he tried to push the dog of and not get slobber in his mouth.

Inuzuka, Kiba was doubled over laughing at his friend, who was trying to push the horse-size dog off. Kiba was wearing a black dress shirt; open with a white undershirt and black slacks. Beside him with a disappointed look on her face was Yamanaka, Ino. She was wearing a dark purple midriff shirt and a dark purple mini-skirt.

She only shook her head and smacked him upside the head. "Baka, call back akamaru now!"

"Alright already. Akamaru heel!" Kiba whistled to get the dog's attention.

The horse-sized dog jumped off of Naruto and ran to kiba's side where he wagged his tail happily. Naruto sat up and grabbed handfuls of snow. He used the snow to wipe the slobber off his face. After a few more minutes and kiba laughing his head off along with the konohamaru corps.; Naruto stood up and dusted the snow off his pants and shook of the remaining snow on his clothes. He glared at the dog user. Kiba stopped laughing when Naruto hit him on top of the head, sending him face first into the snow. Ino and Hinata only rolled their eyes and shook their heads.

They walked into the main house that sasuke lived in and saw no one inside. What they did see was a buffet of food ranging from dumplings to dango and, to naruto's enjoyment, ramen. Outside in the courtyard there was a pit for a bon fire and a grilling grate for barbequing.

"Where are they? Do any of you guys see them?" Ino said while flipping her ponytail back over her shoulder. Every one shook their heads.

"NE, TEME, WHERE ARE YOU?" Everyone covered their ears as Naruto called out for his friend.

They heard shuffling, like some one running around and then a loud THUD! Sasuke shouted out "I'm okay!"

A minute later sasuke walked into the greeting room along with hikari. They both had deep red blushes on their faces. Sasuke was wearing a short sleeved white dress shirt that had the first two buttons left open shown the top of his chest. Hikari was wearing a light purple V-neck blouse with silver sleeves that stopped above her belly button with silver pants that rode a little low on her hips, showing some of her lightly tanned skin. Her black choker still around her neck. Their hair was a little messy and sasuke's shirt was rumpled. Naruto and kiba were snickering.

Ino smirked and said, "Were we interrupting some thing you two?"

Everyone started laughing hysterically. Sasuke swatted Naruto, kiba and konohamaru on the heads to shut them up, but that just made them howl with more laughter. Hikari was watching with an amused interest when she suddenly looked out the window and growled. Every one shut up immediately and looked at the white haired girl. Hikari briskly walked out of the house and stood with fists clenched and a large killing intent emanating from her.

Just down the street was some one hikari had been looking for all day…Haruno, Sakura. Every one looked at hikari, ready to intervene if a fight broke out.

Sakura was wearing an outfit similar to her normal outfit except the shirt stopped at the end of her ribs and she was wearing a mesh material under her skirt instead of her normal shorts. But what was really pissing hikari of was the necklace around the pink haired medic's neck. The pink haired girl was proudly showing a gold chained amethyst howling wolf necklace around her neck for everyone to see.

"Konban wa, every one." Sakura called out happily. "Ah, Naruto-kun."

She walked up to him and smiled sweetly. Though every one there knew that, the smile wasn't as sweet as she wanted them to believe.

"Konban wa sakura, it's always good to see you." Just because sakura had taken some thing from hikari didn't mean Naruto couldn't be nice to his childhood friend.

Sakura looked at Hinata and smirked. _'Things must not be going well with them. I bet that was naruto's signal that he wants out. Maybe he wants me to prove right now that I still love him.'_

Hinata couldn't read minds, but judging by sakura's body language she was thinking that Naruto must not want to be with her anymore. To crush any doubts sakura had about her relationship with Naruto, Hinata decided the best course of action. She tapped naruto's shoulder to get his attention. When Hinata had his attention, she leaned in and kissed him passionately, which he returned, with the same passion.

Sakura looked away with a smile. "I'm so happy for you guys." But inside, her inner self was screaming, _'Get away from my man, Hyuuga.'_

Looking at hikari, you could cut the bridled intent with a dull, rusty kunai. Her eyes were fixated on the necklace. Sakura could tell what hikari was looking at and decided to piss her off even more.

"Oh, you seem to like my necklace. I think it's alright, but the maker should have more of an imagination. I mean a wolf doesn't seem like something that would appeal to that many people. I always thought a wolf was just a wild, brainless and smelly animal that had no common sense…" (1)

She never got to finish that little rant she was on. Why? With the speed to make lee cry with envy, hikari knocked sakura across the street and into the wall with a right hook. HIkari stood straight and her hair cast a shadow over her eyes.

She slowly spoke, her voice calmed, but her aura was wild. "You can say anything about me and take me stuff, but never…and I mean NEVER insult wolves or you'll wind up DEAD!"

Sakura got up after she pried herself off the wall and smirked, "Oh… why's that? Is there some connection between a wolf and you? Maybe you think you should be running around like some dumb animal in the forest. Quite frankly, I think you would fit right in."

Sakura was laughing so much that she didn't see hikari's shoulders relax and slowly raise her head. An ominous wind blew threw and moved her hair from her face revealing that hikari's iris's had turned a menacing, glowing golden color. She snarled and revealed that her canines had grown slightly.

Still laughing sakura didn't notice that the white haired kunoichi had vanished in the blink of an eye. The pink haired girl stopped laughing to taunt some more, but saw that hikari was no where to be seen.

Sakura laughed, "Did the poor little wolf girl run away to go cry some where?" She laughed again, "Or maybe she went to join her pack of mangy mutts."

"You want to know why I tell you not to make fun of wolves. I tell you…" sakura looks all around and see's nothing.

"Where I'm from wolves are akin to Kami, himself. We are taught from birth to fear and respect wolves. They give us strength and an ancient god taught our ancestor how to become powerful and pull our family from the darkness." The voice sounded as though hikari was all around her.

"So what, that doesn't mean I give a damn. It just sounds like a crack pot story to me." Sakura's voice held confidence but on the inside she was frightened. _'Where is she?'_

"You should because I'm going to show you a small taste of what that god bestowed upon him."

Hikari appeared right in front of the pink haired girl. Her eyes glowing in the moonlight. Sakura was amazed at the speed she possessed. Sakura felt her feet leave the ground and a huge amount of pain on the side of her face. Hikari smirked; her leg lifted off the ground and bent at the knee and her body turned in an angle from the kick she just delivered.

Sakura hit the ground, hard, and tumbled to a stop.

Everyone was shock at the speed hikari possessed and the fact that a fight that wouldn't end well had just started. Naruto, kiba and sasuke snapped back from there daze and were about to take off to intervene when a voice made them freeze.

"If you don't want to be killed, I suggest that you don't interfere." The voice said in a lazy, yet deadly tone.

Everyone looked around, but couldn't find the voice anywhere around them. Then they heard a whistle from above them. They saw silver hair and immediately recognized the person.

"Kakashi-sensei, what do mean don't interfere? Hikari might kill her?" Naruto pointed out.

"That is possible. After all, hikari is utilizing a style she is unaccustomed to." The scarecrow shinobi retorted with a deadpan tone causing everyone to sweat drop.

"So what? Why can't we stop them from fighting? How would we be killed?"

Kakashi lifted his hitai-ate so the sharingan was showing and continued to watch the two kunoichi battle. It was obvious that hikari had the upper hand. "Hikari is in a frenzy right now. One… the style of taijutsu is one that she hasn't mastered. That makes her movements unpredictable. Two…hikari is fighting for something even she doesn't truly comprehend."

Everyone was confused. Not two minutes ago, she had explained why she started attacking sakura. Everyone had the same thought, _'Then why is she fighting?'_

As though he could read their minds, kakashi answered their internal question. "Hikari isn't from this village originally. I can't go into details about her past, but I'll tell you one thing…hikari was too young to remember anything, but what was drilled into her from the time she could stand. Sort of like the Hyuuga and Uchiha Clans."

Hinata, hanabi and sasuke nodded in understanding.

A loud crashing sound was heard. Everyone looked to see hikari fending off sakura's attempts to fight back, but she just swatted them aside and unleashed an onslaught of fists and feet moving fluidly.

"SO WE'RE JUST SUPPOSED TO SIT HERE AND WATCH WHILE SAKURA IS BEATEN TO DEATH? I mean, yeah sakura may let her jealousy and temper get the better of her, BUT THAT DOESN'T MEAN SHE HAS TO GO THROUGH THIS!"

"Actually, you are going to sit here and watch because its time for sakura to learn that she can't always have her way and her actions and words have consequences. She needs to grow up and think about others instead of herself." His tone kept everyone frozen to their spot just watching the fight continue.

Hikari was getting fed up with sakura's weak attempt to land a hit on her. She grabbed the belt holding sakura's skirt and the top of her shirt, then threw her into a wall, all within a few seconds. Sakura's body left a crater that was three feet bigger than her in diameter. A loud thud was heard as she hit the ground. Sakura staggered to stand up and vomited from the pain she was feeling. The necklace was curiously undamaged and swayed in the light breeze. Hikari charged. There was no longer any anger or rage; there was no emotion at all. She acted on instinct now and a nagging voice in her head that told her to take back her most precious item.

Sakura barely dodged a swift kick to the head, but had her legs swept out from under her. Hikari used her hands to perform a move, almost like a break dance move, to turn her body and deliver a kick to the middle of sakura's back, as she was about to hit the ground, and sent her in to the air. Sakura had the wind knocked out of her and couldn't cry out in pain. Hikari jumped on to the edge of the wall and used it as a sort of trampoline to appear above sakura. Using a front flip to increase her momentum, hikari landed a heel kick to her stomach, sending her rocketing to the ground. As she hit, sakura cried out in pain as blood spilt out of her mouth. Hikari landed gracefully and looked on as the pink haired kunoichi struggled to pick her self off the ground. Trembling in pain as she wheezed and swaggered to and fro.

Sakura cursed to herself, "Kuso, I can barley move."

Hikari walked toward the medic and smirked with satisfaction. Sakura flinched as hikari's hand started to rise toward her neck. Sakura closed her eyes in fear. She felt a tug at her neck then nothing. She opened her eyes to see hikari holding the necklace gingerly as though the slightest touch could destroy her precious item. Her eyes had returned to the dark purple that they originally were. She noticed that hikari looked at the necklace fondly and felt very ashamed about what she had done. She looked away in shame.

"Gomen nasai. I shouldn't ha…"

"Oh shut up! I don't need to hear you try to apologize." Hikari cut her off. She looked at sakura in disgust and then turned her back on her. "There are some things in this world that you can't make up for just because you're sorry. This is one of those instances where an apology is worth nothing."

Sakura growled under her breath, "Look, I'm trying to make amends for what I did. Just accept…"

"Accept what, your heartfelt apology?" the sarcasm dripped like venom from her mouth. "What do you take me for an idiot? You think that will solve anything? That's Bullshit! You probably don't even comprehend what you've done. You took the only link I have left to a past I can't remember anymore. In fact, you should be dead for the pain you've caused me! Be thankful I'm sparing your life. I won't be this kind again."

Hikari walked back to the stunned people waiting on her. Sakura trembled with anger and focused her chakra to make a chakra scalpel in her right hand. She charged to the silver haired kunoichi. Hikari turned in time to see sakura only a few feet away.

"PLEASE STOP, SAKURA-SAN!" A voice called out.

The chakra scalpel stopped only an inch away from hikari's right eye. Sakura looked around her and saw that Kiba, Neji, Naruto, Kakashi and Lee were holding her back. Kiba had her right wrist, Naruto had her left arm pinned behind her back, Neji was kneeling in front of her, and open palm over her stomach, Kakashi was in front of her a kunai to her neck, and Lee was beside kakashi with one hand on her right shoulder and the other placed gently on the bend of her elbow.

Sakura looked surprised to find this much resistance against her. Sakura tried to move, but found she couldn't. Not only were her arms and her upper body restrained, but she couldn't move her legs. Two jet black ink dogs were holding her legs with their powerful jaws but they caused no pain, only restrained. Sai was sitting on the roof with his scroll opened and another drawing ready if necessary.

"SAKURA-SAN, THAT IS MOST UNYOUTHFUL OF YOU, ATTACKING HATAKE-CHAN WITH HER BACK TURNED." Lee could only shake his head in disappointment.

"What about me? You guys weren't here. You didn't see how she came at me like some wild animal. I'm only giving her back what pain she gave me." The pink haired kunoichi protested.

"Haruno, Sakura…that is enough out of you!" Another voice called out.

Sakura looked toward the entrance of the sector and saw the Godaime, Senju, Tsunade accompanied by Shizune, Kurenai and Yamato. She was walking toward the restrained haruno. A look of both disappointment and seriousness was on her face. Everyone save kakashi, who had taken naruto's place and pinned sakura's arms behind her back, had let go and bowed respectively to the Hokage. Tsunade took a quick look around to see who was present. Team 7, 8, 10 and Team Gai were present along with Sai, and Hikari.

"Shishou, you weren't here you didn't see that I tried to defend myself."

Tsunade scoffed, "Sakura, we arrived a few minutes after you. I saw how you provoked hikari into attacking you. She's right though, if this was a different day…you would be dead. Hikari had the restraint to hold back. If I hadn't been informed that you might try this by Kakashi, I would be punishing both of you."

Sakura was horrified. Things weren't going as well as she would have wanted. _'Kuso, they were supposed to be on my side.'_ She thought.

"You, on the other hand, have committed theft of a precious family jewel along with provoking a fellow shinobi into attacking you so you may falsely accuse her. You'll get a punishment after you are released from the hospital." With that said tsunade snapped her fingers and two ANBU landed behind sakura and disappeared in a poof of smoke along with the haruno girl.

Hikari moved back to everyone. The necklace stored in her pocket for now. She looked at Hinata with an apologetic smile. "Gomen ne…do you think you'll want to continue your party after that?" She received a blank stare as an answer. "No offense or anything, but she was your friend and with the fight and everything…" She trail off as she looked away from the elder female Hyuuga.

Hinata placed a hand on her friends shoulder and said in a gentle voice, "While I think the violence could have been avoided, you were defending something precious to you. So it's alright. I just hope sakura will overcome this jealousy she feels and maybe you two can be friends."

Hikari scoffs, but looks at Hinata with a smile, "Maybe, if sasuke ever wears pink and yellow."

They all laugh as they envision sasuke wearing pink. Sasuke just looks at every one with a glare that would set them on fire.

"Haha…how about we go inside now and get this party started. I'm starving." Naruto was practially drooling at the thought of food. As if to stress his point, his stomach growled loudly causing another bout of laughter from his friends.

They all started heading inside kakashi dropped down from the roof and stopped Hinata and Naruto. He started digging around in his hip pouch for something.

"I have the perfect gift for you Hinata. Here it is." He pulled out a small gift wrapped in green paper. With that he went inside leaving the couple standing there with confused looks on their faces.

Hinata turned the gift in her hand a couple of times before she opened it. Naruto looked over her shoulder to see what his sensei gave her. Hinata blushed as she read the title of the book she received as her gift. It read: _Icha Icha: Paradaisu._

Naruto immediately rushed after his sensei muttering something about perverted sensei and kicking kakashi's butt. Hinata put the book in her jacket pocket before any one could see it. Unfortunately for her, her cousin neji was watching his cousin quickly put the orange book away. He couldn't read the title though.

"Hinata what was that you just stuffed in your pocket?"

Hinata jumped in surprise and quickly turned around, coming face to face with neji and his girlfriend and teammate, Tenten. She looked amazing; she was wearing a Chinese top that was white with a red dragon and red pants. Her hair wasn't in its usual buns, but was loose and hanging down past her shoulders. Tenten just grinned at the younger girls blush and guilty eyes and immediately knew what it was.

Tenten nodded slightly, "Forget it neji, it's probably a diary that she got. Let's go I'm hungry and it's starting to get cold."

Reluctantly, he agreed and they walked inside. Hinata let out a breath that she was holding and followed after her cousin.

After a couple of hours of some people dancing, eating and mingling, with the occasional bickering usually caused by Naruto and kiba, Hikari had called for everyone's attention. It took a minute for every one to calm down.

"Alright, now that I have your attention, I want everyone to follow me outside. A few of us have a surprise for the birthday girl." Her voice had everyone's wondering what the surprise was as they headed outside.

Once outside, everyone saw a platform, courtesy of yamato, three mikes, an electric guitar and a keyboard on it. There was confusion about why it was there until hikari and sasuke stepped onto the stage and the silver haired girl spoke into the mike closetst to the edge of the stage.

"You guys might be wondering why there's a stage here. Well this is the surprise; we got a band to play here. They're a few friends of mine, who I met before the started this band."

Hikari could see their confusion. "LADIES AND GENTLEMEN MAY I PRESENT…!"

**CLIFF HANGER!!!**

**I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter of Aishiteru vol.2 I wanted to get this chapter out before the ANIME EXPO! So there you guys go.**

**Remember flames are accepted, but reviews are appreciated. I hope to get some reviews from you guys. Leave a review. 'Til next time! JA NE! ^_^**

**Next time: Shining collection!**


	3. Shining Collection

**Yo, I'm back with chapter three! I hope you guys enjoyed the last chapter.**

**Unfortunately, I don't own Naruto. If I did it probably wouldn't have been that good. Then again Naruto would have noticed Hinata sooner, but I digress.**

**Remember Flames are welcome, but good reviews are appreciated.**

**Icha Icha: Aishiteru vol.2**

**Chapter 3: Shining Collection!**

_Previously:_

_(Once outside, everyone saw a platform, courtesy of Yamato, three mikes, an electric guitar and a keyboard on it. There was confusion about why it was there until hikari and sasuke stepped onto the stage and the silver haired girl spoke into the mike closetst to the edge of the stage._

"_You guys might be wondering why there's a stage here. Well this is the surprise; we got a band to play here. They're a few friends of mine, who I met before they started this band."_

_Hikari could see their confusion. "LADIES AND GENTLEMEN MAY I PRESENT…!")_

"…NITTLE GRASPER!" Everyone started cheering as Seguchi Tohma, who was dressed like a pimp, and Ukai Noriko walked onto the stage. The both hugged hikari and gave their greetings. Everyone quieted down and looked at the stage in confusion. Tohma and Noriko took their places on stage next to the instruments. There was muttering in the crowd as everyone wondered the same thing… _'Where is Ryuichi?'_

Everyone grew quiet again as they heard a voice singing just loud enough for them to hear.

Ima mo todokanu hikari no yukue

azayaka ni mau omoi o egakou

michibiku kotoba ga koborete

shimawanu you ni utsuru toki o

osorenaide

They looked behind them and saw Sakuma, Ryuichi walking to the stage. They made a way for him to the stage.

todokanu hikari no yukue azayaka ni

mau omoi o egakou

michibiku kotoba ga koborete

shimawanu you ni utsuru toki o

osorenaide

Ryuichi stood on stage and held the ending note as he looked to the heavens. After a second he stopped and the crowd cheered. He smiled at the small crowd.

"Konban-wa, everyone. I want to say arigatou to my friend, hikari-chan and to my new friend Naruto. They were able to put this together and I'm happy to be apart of it." His voice was light and energetic.

Hikari stepped forward, "Is everyone ready?" A cheering crowd was the answer. Hikari stepped off the stage and Ryuichi nodded at the other two members of Nittle Grasper and the song started and Fast beats began.

(Shining Collection) (A/N I don't own gravitation.)

_Garasu no bedo ni toraware no motion_

_Tesaguri de shukujo wa kamikudaku_

_Soliday na tail de midara na hane collection_

_Himei hodo mujaki na yoruga hoshii_

_Yuuutsu no borode odoru jiyuu to uso ni tsuda nukare_

_Moroku maichiru puzzle kono shihai kara tobitate_

_Kiss shining hitomi ni kuchizukete_

_Toke dasu hanabira mo jama ni naru_

_Make me shining irozuku shigeki no hate ni_

_Kagayakihajimeta maboroshi_

Everyone couldn't help dancing to the fast paced song, that ryuichi sang_._

_Shikai wo nukedashita panorama no dimension_

_Kanpeki na gitai wa tada furueru_

_Cheap na shokushu wa mitsu wo motomeru reaction_

_Tsumetakutemo hiwai na kimi ga mitai_

_Nanairo ni moteasobu waki-da-shita kairaku no umi_

_Kage ga fuchidoru game kono sekai kara uchinuke_

_Kiss shining kodoku wo katashidori_

_Karamaru koukai ga kuu wo kiru_

_Make me shining chirabaru kokoro no hahenra_

_Mabushiku sugisaru kibou ni_

_Ta-iki wa somaru akaku nureta yubisaki ni habatakenu_

_chou no namida_

_Subete wa suna ni naru shining, make you cry_

Sasuke stood against a wall just watching his girlfriend dance before she pulled him along and made him dance too.

_Kiss shining hitomi ni kuchizukete_

_Toke dasu hanabira mo jama ni naru_

_Kill me shining irozuku shigeki no hate ni_

_Kagayakihajimeta maboroshi_

_Please don't cryin' kodoku wo katashidori_

_Karamaru koukai ga kuu wo kiru_

_Make me shining chirabaru kokoro no hahenra_

_Mabushiku sugisaru kibou ni_

Everyone stops dancing as the instrumentals wind down and applaud the talented singer. Ryuichi takes a bow and smiles widely.

"Hehe, we're not the only surprise. After much convincing and bribing…we managed to convince hikari to sing a song for you guys. Now give her a round of applause." Ryuichi held out his hand and helped the white haired kunoichi up.

Hikari took the mike and glared at her friends. "If anyone laughs or makes a crack about my singing I'll make Mitarashi-san AND Ibiki-san look like little puppy dogs by the time I'm done with you."

Everyone went wide eyed at the thought. They feverently nodded their heads and Hikari smiled sweetly.

"Ok let's start." She went over to the members of Nittle Grasper and whispered something to them, to which the nooded. Ryuichi grabbed an extra guitar.

Hikari took a deep breath and the song began with light instrumentals.

**(Towa No hana) (Ai Yori Aoshi)**

_Awaku saita hana no kao_

_Nokoshi kisetsu wa sugimasu_

_Ame mo agari sora ni kumo_

_Aoi kaze ga soyoideru_

_Kyou ashita to futari ga_

_Aruku toki no katawara de_

_Kawarazu ni yureteiru_

_Omoide ga arimasu_

They all enjoyed the soft melody of the song and it made them looked to the one they love and softly smile.

_Eien wo eien wo_

_Saitemo karenai_

_Kono mune no tokimeki wa tsukinai_

_Dare yori mo dare yori mo_

_Anata wo mitsumete_

_Hateshinaku kono kimochi zutto_

_Ano hi futari de ata no wa_

_Sekai jyuu de ikudomeni_

_Okita kiseki nano desho wo_

_Dare ni kansha tsureba ii_

_Aa anata no mirai ga_

_Kitto watashi ni wa ni aito_

_Sou ienai yoru mo aru_

_Nakisou ni naru kedo_

_Eien wo eien wo_

_Subite mo asenai_

_Kaze no naka sora no shita natsu no_

_Shinjitara shinjitara_

_Anata no e ga ora_

_Watashi no hanani naru kara kitto_

_Eien wo eien wo_

_Saitemo karenai_

_Kono mune no tokimeki wa tsukinai_

_Dare yori mo dare yori mo_

_Anata wo mitsumete_

_Hateshinaku kono kimochi zutto_

As the song ended there was a moment of silence, before they all applauded. The applause was loud, and it showed that they loved hikari's singing. Though she wouldn't admit it hikari exhaled and breath she didn't know she was holding. She smiled and bowed.

"All right, ladies and gentlemen, it's almost midnight and thanks to the Hokage we have permission to do this…!" With that said hikari pointed to the sky and as if on cue fireworks started to go of.

They glowed with brilliant colors as they lit up the sky. There were lots of oh's and ah's althrought the show. Hinata felt a little embarrassed.

'_They went through so much trouble to put these things together. I would have been fine with a simple party.'_ She felt that everyone may have been overzealous with the party.

"You deserved everything we gave you tonight, well minus the sakura incident." Naruto spoke into hinta's ear.

She blushed from the warm breath that sent shivers down her spine and the fact that Naruto knew exactly what she was thinking.

"Oh yeah, I almost forgot here's your gift." Naruto pulled out a long rectangle box from his pocket and gave it to Hinata.

She looked from him to the box before she opened it revealing a silver chained necklace with a silver locket in the shape of a heart. She gasped and looked at her lover.

"I-it's beautiful, but it must have cost a fortune Naruto-kun." Surprise showed in her eyes.

"Your worth much more to me than what that locket costs, at least to me. Open it and look inside." He smiled softly as she opened it and gasped.

Inside, on the left side of the locket was the inscription, '_To my life and angel, Hinata_.' On the right was a picture of herself and Naruto when they first started dating. He had his arm around her and had a big grin on his face. Hinata was leaning into Naruto with a small blush dusting her cheeks. She smiled at the memory and gave Naruto a kiss on the cheek.

Hiashi was watching the couple and smiled with pride. "The boy has taste."

Unknown to them, a stranger was lying on the roof looking directly at hikari. His eyes widened in recognition. He quickly jumped from the roof and headed to the village's gate. One thought was running through his head. '_I found her, I found her. I must tell my master.'_

The man was sickly thin. He had brown hair with green eyes. He was wearing ragged clothing and had no shoes. The one thing that seemed to be in good condition was the insignia, above his heart, of two wolves circling each other, one was chasing an image of the sun and the other was chasing an image of a full moon. The man moved quickly.

(Three days later/unknown location)

The sickly thin brown haired man ran through an encampment filled with soldiers. The man had been running non-stop for three days and was on his last legs. He reached a small cabin.

"M-m-milord, I h-h-h-have n-news." He burst through the door into a barely lit room. He kneeled before a man with white hair.

The white haired man didn't acknowledge the man and was more interested in the scrolls on his desk. The brown haired man spoke again, "I-I've found h-h-her, Milord."

The lord's head snapped up and looked at the man with a deadly glare. In the barely lit room, you could still see the white haired lord's eyes. They were two different colors. The left was a dark purple and the right was a golden color. His gaze made the man feel like he was being sized up like prey by a wolf. The thin man flinched under his gaze.

"Where?" The white haired man whispered as he stood and stepped into a better light.

The lord was wearing an outfit best suited for war. He had blood red pants that were cuffed mid calf. He had a black as night shin guards, a samurai chest plate and forearm guards of the same color as the shin guards, a blood red sash and a blood red short sleeved shirt underneath. There was a blood red insignia on the chest plate the same as the man's kneeling before him, except bigger and placed on the center of the armor. He had six, two inch in diameter, cylinders attached to his thighs, three on each leg.

"I-i-in Konohagakure. She was able to access only a minimal amount of her power. To watch her do battle was an amazing experience." The man lost his stutter as he remembered hikari fighting some strange pink haired girl.

The white haired man smiled menacingly. His teeth showed and you could see that his fangs were slightly elongated. He reached into his sash and pulled a small pouch from it. He threw it before the kneeling man, who picked it up with shaking hands. He opened and fell back. Inside was at least thirty gold pieces inside. He got up and bowed deeply.

"For your services." The said the white haired man.

"Domo arigatou gozaimasu!!!!" The man ran out of the cabin with a huge smile on his face.

The lord just chuckled and closed the door. He turned to the couch on the far end of the room. There was a woman, with mid back length golden blonde hair, sitting there reading a book. She was wearing an outfit like the man's but the armor was gold and her shirt, sash and pants were a light brown and with out the six cylinders on her thighs. The insignia resembled a lions head snarling.

She looked at the man with soft blue eyes and spoke in a soft voice. "So lord Ranmaru, what do we do now?"

The man known as Ranmaru chuckled; "Now Hotaru-san, we assemble the four other Celestial Beings."

The woman named hotaru closed her book and stood. She picked up a nearby helmet that looked as thought she cut the loins head off and made a helmet (It's not a real lions head). She also picked up another helmet that was black as night and looked like an actual wolfs head. (Not real) She then grabbed a katana that was had a brown sheath and slung it across her back.

"Then what milord?" she placed the helmet on his head and positioned it so it didn't hinder his sight.

Ranmanru grabbed a black katana and attached it to his waist. He took a deep breath and began to walk to the door.

"Then Hotaru-san we will die and be reborn in this world, cleansed."

With that said they both exited the cabin.

**Well that's it for now. What does ranmaru mean? Who are the Celestial Beings? How does hikari fit into all this and could there be trouble brewing for our favorite knucklehead? These questions and more will be answered next time on ****Aishiteru: Vol.2! **

**Next time: A Mission to Yuki no Kuni!**

**See ya real soon!!!**


	4. A mission to Yuki no Kuni!

**YO, I'M BACK!!! I even brought chapter 4 with me. So how was the last chapter? Anyway now Naruto and friends are going to go on a mission. Will the secret of who the Celestial Beings are be reveal? Who are Ranmaru and Hotaru? Well to find out you need to read the newest chapter of Aishiteru vol.2.**

**Disclaimer: I do NOT in anyway own Naruto.**

**Remember flames are welcome, but good reviews are appreciated. Ja ne!**

**Icha Icha: Aishiteru Vol.2**

**Chapter 4: A Mission to Yuki no Kuni.**

_Previously:_

_("Then what milord?" she placed the helmet on his head and positioned it so it didn't hinder his sight._

_Ranmanru grabbed a black katana and attached it to his waist. He took a deep breath and began to walk to the door._

"_Then Hotaru-san we will die and be reborn in this world, cleansed."_

_With that said they both exited the cabin.)_

(In Konoha/Hokage tower) (New Years Eve)

The Godaime was reading incoming mission scrolls. Her right hand was holding her head up as she read each and every scroll. Some were requesting shinobi for missions ranging from yard work to escorts or assassinations. She approved ones she felt would be beneficial to the village and some that was grunt work for the new genin. She had just approved the last one on her desk.

"Yatta, all the paperwork is finished. Hehe now, for a little drink from my secret stash." Tsunade was just reaching for her secret stash of sake when shizune opened the door.

"Lady Tsunade, we have a message from Koyuki-hime of Yuki no Kuni." Shizune was holding tonton in her arms and handed tsunade the scroll.

Tsunade took the scroll and with a wave of her hand dismissed Shizune. Before she left, Shizune looked over her shoulder and said, "By the way, I found your sake so that means no drinking." Then she left with a smile on her face and a very angry Hokage.

Tsunade muttered something under her breath about sake thief's and getting even. She opened the scroll and quickly skimmed it. A smirk grew wider and wider as she read. She shook her and laughed.

"Well, he's wanted another mission. Might as well give him one." She wrote something down on a piece of paper and called for Hagane Kotetsu and Kamizuki Izumo.

She handed them a piece of paper. "Find me those people. I have a very important mission that only they could handle."

The two men looked at the paper. They sweat dropped at the names.

"Should you really send these five? I mean, is it a mission or a getway?" Kotetsu never questioned the Hokage's judgment until now.

"Just do it and quickly!" A tick formed on the Hokage's forehead.

The two man gulped loudly and answered in unison, "Hai, Hokage-sama." Then they left in a poof of smoke.

The Hokage just shook her head and headed to the bookshelf. She pulled out a thick book titled, "_The study of migraine cures."_ She opened the book. The inside was hollowed out so she could hide a small bottle of sake.

"At least she didn't find you." She laughed. She was about to take a drink when the door opened again and shizune appeared; Again.

Tsunade whined, "Awwwww, damn it all to hell!!"

Shizune snatched the bottle from the busty blonde. She then began to search the room again.

(In training ground 8)

Naruto and Hinata were sparring in the open field. They looked evenly matched. Naruto tried to sweep his girlfriends legs out from under her, but she did a back flip. His leg passed by her. Naruto used the momentum to push up on his hands to try and kick Hinata while she was in mid flip. Hinata curled into a ball and narrowly avoided the kick. She landed on her feet and looked at her boyfriend with a taunting smile. He was breathing hard and sweating. Hinata on the other hand was breathing evenly and had not even a single drop of sweat on her.

'_I just had to fight teme before training with Hina-chan.'_ He thought.

She resettled into the Jyuuken stance. Her eyes dared him to try again. He fell for it and charged. He did a jump kick aimed for her head. Hinata blocked the limb and pushed it away. Then she spun around naruto's second kick and hit him in the kidneys. Naruto did a barrel roll when he hit the ground. Naruto stood up and felt a small draft. He looked down and saw a tear in his favorite orange and black jacket.

"Aw man, this was my favorite jacket." He unzipped the torn clothing and threw it near his stuff.

Now his was in a white muscle shirt that was drenched in sweat. Hinata almost did a face plant as a deep red blush settled on her face. This was not lost on Naruto. He smirked and took off his muscle shirt and threw it on top of his jacket. Hinata's stance faulted slightly she blushed harder as she remembered the last time she saw Naruto's bare chest was when they were…

"Hey Hinata-chan, stop daydreaming." He said in his laughter.

Hinata snapped out of her daze to see Naruto was two feet from her. She couldn't react in time and Naruto picked her up and threw her on his shoulder. She struggled and asked him to put her down. He held her still with his arm.

"Nope, you're going to stay right here forever." He pretended he was a villain and laughed. "No one can save you now. Hehe, I'm never letting go!"

Hinata played along. "Oh yeah. What if I manage to escape?"

Naruto laughed again. "Then I'll chase you down and make you mine."

"Well I could get away and you would never be able to find me." Hinata struggled some more.

"Hehe, I always be able to find you where ever you go hina-chan. Dattebayo!" Naruto started walking toward the small lake only a few yards from them.

Hinata realized what he was doing and struggled more. "NARUTO, DON'T YOU DARE!!"

Naruto walked to the middle of the lake using his chakra. He switched Hinata from his shoulder to his arms and held her like a bride. He had a big grin on his face.

Hinata's eyes went wide and she shook her head. "No, no, no, no, no. UZUMAKI NARUTO, DON'T YOU…"

She was cut off before she could finish as Naruto released his chakra and the quickly sank into the water. Hinata resurface first and glared at Naruto as he resurfaced, laughing. She splashed him making him laugh harder.

There was a poof of smoke on the shore revealing Kotetsu with a grin on his face. He saw when naruto dropped himself and the hyuuga girl into the lake. Naruto only noticed him when Hinata started heading for the shore.

When they reached the shore, Hinata's hair was covering her face and her clothes were sagging from the amount of water they soaked up. Naruto's pants were sagging from the weight too. Naruto tried to get the water out of his hair by shaking his head like a dog. Which got Kotetsu wet. Hinata glared at the blonde and went to her pack for a towel.

"That was pretty funny Naruto, but I think Hinata-san is pretty mad. Was it worth it?" The older shinobi asked.

Naruto looked around him and at Hinata, who was wringing out her jacket. He looked at kotetsu with a huge grin. "TOTALLY WORTH IT!!"

The older shinobi just shook his head.

"So why are you here? Do I have a mission?" Naruto asked eagerly.

Kotetsu smiled, "Lady Tsunade wants you and Hinata in her office in five minutes." He couldn't help, but smile.

"I'll leave you two alone." With that Kotetsu poofed away.

Naruto walked over to the mad Hyuuga and smiled nervously. He grabbed his shirt and put it on along with his jacket.

"Naruto, you're going to pay for that I hope you know."

Naruto leaned in and kissed his girlfriend passionately. He pulled her to him. Hinata moaned from the sensation and Naruto took his chance to slip his tongue into her hot mouth. Hinata instantly forgot that she was mad at Naruto.

He broke the kiss and smiled at her. He whispered in her ear, "See, I have more than one way to get you wet."

Hinata blushed deeply and pushed Naruto away. "Let's go see what Lady Tsunade wants."

Naruto just snickered and grabbed his and hinata's pack and walked beside his blushing hime.

(On the other side of town)

Sasuke was sitting in a tree watching hikari practice her kenjutsu while he was eating a tomato. He watched her perform each and every move with grace. Sasuke jumped from the tree and looked down the path they had come and he could see some one walking toward them. He whistled and caught hikari's attention.

As the person neared sasuke recognized him as Izumo and let down his guard. He nodded to hikari and she continued her kata.

Izumo walked up to sasuke and spoke, "Konnichi wa, Sasuke-san. Lady Tsunade request your presence along with hikari-san."

"Hn." Guess who said that.

Izumo disappeared in a poof a smoke. Sasuke walked over to hikari. She stopped and raised an eyebrow at the Uchiha.

"Hokage needs us. It's probably a mission. Let's go." He was about to take a bite of his tomato, but when he bit down he bit his finger. He looked at hikari as she was walking to the hokage tower, tomato in hand.

"Give it back." Sasuke commanded.

Hikari turned around; she had eaten most of the fruit. Sasuke glared at the white haired girl. She just waved at him.

"Hikari…GIVE IT BACK!" Sasuke charged forward, but before he could reach her, hikari finished the tomato and started to run for her life.

She called over her shoulder, "See you there, sasu-kun."

Sasuke tried many times to catch her, but she was able to evade him. She looked like she wasn't even trying. They neared the Hokage tower and hikari ran for all she was worth. When she reached the office she quickly closed the door and barricaded the door with her body.

The Hokage laughed, "Ate his tomato again, hikari-chan?"

Hikari nodded fervently. There was a pounding on the door followed by an angry Uchiha telling her to open the door. Hikari didn't move.

(Outside the Hokage Tower)

The blonde haired shinobi and the raven haired kunoichi had witnessed Sasuke run after a grinning hikari. They sweat dropped as the heard shouting coming from the bulding. Hinata had managed to dry off a little but she was still soaked. Naruto was soaked to but only because Hinata pushed him into a river that they walked by. People snickered at the two shinobi. They walked inside the building and past shizune who shot them a curious glance. Naruto just smiled and shrugged. Hinata just kept walking with a blush on her face. They reached the hokage's door and found sasuke pounding on the door yelling…

"Kuso! Hikari,that was the third one today. Do I have to start hiding them now?" He started to calm down taking deep breaths.

"You know she only does that to piss you off right? Otherwise, there's no point." The blonde knucklehead teased the disgruntled uchiha.

Sasuke turned to shout at his surrogate brother, but all words were lost as he took in Naruto and hinata's appearance.

He had to bite his tongue to keep from laughing. "You two do realize that if you're going to go swimming you can't swim in your clothes. Right?"

Hinata looked down in embarrassment with a dark blush. Naruto just smirked.

"You don't swim with your clothes on? Tell when you go swimming that way I could remember to avoid you."

Sasuke just glared. "Yeah right you'll probably want to know so you could take a peek. You pervert."

Naruto jaw dropped and he looked green. "Unfortunately for you, sasu-gay, I'm not into guys. So keep your sick fantasies to yourself."

Sasuke didn't respond, instead he snarled and jumped at Naruto knocking him to the ground. Naruto tried to push him off, but he was laughing to hard. Sasuke was trying to beat the crap out of Naruto who kept struggling.

"Help Hinata-chan…he's trying to have his perverted way with me. HELP!" Naruto was laughing his ass off.

Hinata just watched in confusion about what to do. Sasuke managed to deck Naruto making the blonde yelp in pain. The Hokages door snapped open and the two males stopped fighting at the sight of the Hokage. Naruto was in the middle of throwing a punch to sasuke's chin and sasuke was about to strangle the blonde.

"INSIDE NOW!!" the Hokage picked the two up by the collar and threw them inside the office. Hinata followed inside and the hokage nodded. "Now we have to wait on one more person, then I can brief you on the mission."

The Hokage's door opened revealing one pink haired kunoichi, Haruno, Sakura. She stood quietly between Naruto and Sasuke.

"Now, as to why you're here." Tsunade sat on the edge of her desk with her arms crossed over her chest. "All five of you will be going on an escort mission to Yuki no Kuni. You will be escorting Koyuki-hime from here to her vacation resort then back to her homeland."

She saw she had their attention and continued, "This is an A-ranked mission. You are to expect anything from bandits to rouge-nin. For this mission, I'm putting Sasuke in charge. Am I understood?"

They answered in unison, "Hai, Hokage-sama!"

Sasuke spoke up, "How long is this mission? From what you told us this could last a while."

Tsunade nodded. "You should pack rations and supplies for about a week's travel. When you reach the resort you will be guests. Everything has been paid for and room and board is not a problem."

Sasuke nodded in approval. "When do we leave?"

"You all leave at noon tomorrow so rest up while you can. All of you are dismissed, except you sakura. I need to discuss something with you. "

(Outside)

As soon as they hit the streets each couple went their respective way. There were many food and game stands as well as paper lanterns adorning the streets in preparation for the New Year festival.

"Ne, hina-chan, want to stay at my place until we leave." Naruto looked at her with hope in his eyes.

Hinata looked at him with a smile. "Hai, but I better go home and tell my otou-san about my mission and pack."

Naruto hugged his girlfriend, "Ok, I'll see you later. I got to go meet up with Kakashi-sensei. He wants to help me with the new jutsu I'm mastering. Want to meet up in a couple of hours at my place or Ichiraku?"

Hinata thought it over for a second, "I'll meet you at ichiraku, then when we get back to your apartment I'll help you pack. Ok?"

Naruto gave her a quick kiss, "Alright, well I see you, Ja ne!"

He started running toward team 7's training grounds, while Hinata walked toward the Hyuuga compound.

(Back in the Hokage's Office)

Sakura was sitting across from the Hokage with confusion etched on her face. Tsunade had a serious one on hers.

"Sakura there are only two reasons why I'm letting you go on this mission…" Tsunade looked at the pink haired girl with a glare. "One reason being, you, Sasuke and Naruto were requested for this mission by an important official, so I can't refuse. The second is, this is your one chance to redeem yourself. If you take one step out of line, give me one reason to think you might endanger another fellow shinobi, I will send you back to the academy and I will take away your hospital clearance. Am I understood?"

The pink haired girl looked at the floor and quietly answered, "Hai, I understand."

Tsunade dismissed the young girl and pulled out a bottle of sake. She drank a little then replaced it back to its hiding place.

(Outside)

Sakura may have had a down look on her face, but on the inside she was thinking. Thinking of a way to finally have what she wanted. As she formulated her plans a sweet smile adorned her face as she walked home to pack for her mission.

(With Sasuke and Hikari)

Hikari was angry, no scratch that, she was furious. "Why the hell is she on this mission? As if having to live in the same village as she does isn't bad enough."

Sasuke remained quiet as his girlfriend ranted some more.

"I swear to Kami-sama, if she so much as makes one wrong move, I'll kill her. I'll wring her neck."

Sasuke put a hand on her shoulder. She calmed down slightly. She sighed and looked at the uchiha with a small smile.

"Don't worry about her. Just enjoy the fact that we'll be at a resort. If she steps out of line I'll send her back here and file a complaint with the Hokage."

Hikari gave sasuke a quick kiss. "Arigatou, sasu-kun"

"Hn."

"So let's go home and pack. Then we can rest up for the mission." She pulled on sasuke's hand and led him toward their home in the Uchiha sector.

(Time skip: 3 hours later)

Naruto was waiting for Hinata inside Ichiraku's. He looked at the clock on the wall. It read 5:30pm. '_She's late. She's never late; in fact she's always early. Did something happen to her?"_

Naruto finished his ramen and paid for the meal, thanking the owner. He stepped out of the stand and looked around. He couldn't spot the raven haired Hyuuga anywhere. He walked toward the Hyuuga Compound looking for his beloved. He turned a corner and saw Neji running in his direction.

Neji saw Naruto and ran toward him with urgency. He practically skidded to a stop in front of the blonde. He was breathing heavily. Sweat was pouring down his face.

"N-naruto have you seen Hinata-sama?" He spoke in between trying to catch his breath.

"Iie, I haven't seen her since this afternoon. Doushite?"

Neji regained his composure and looked at Naruto. "Hinata-sama received some unfortunate news from the council. She ran and I can't find her."

Naruto grew worried, "What happened? What was the news?"

"She has been forced into an arranged marriage." Neji looked away in shame. He didn't want to be the one to tell this to Naruto, but he needed to know.

Naruto's face showed a lot of emotions that neji could identify. He saw pain and sadness in his friend's eyes.

"To who?" He whispered.

"I believe he is the daimyo's grandson. If you find her…" Neji trailed off.

"Yeah, I'll see what I can do."

Neji placed a comforting hand on his friends shoulder and nodded. He then headed back to the compound to wait.

Naruto jumped onto the roof of one of the house. He thought of where she would go. He hopped from one building to another looking down at the streets as he went.

______________________________________________________________________________

He stopped as he reached the Hokage Monument. It was already night and he had checked every where he could think of. He check his apartment, tenten, ino, sasuke's, EVEN kurenai's, but the lavender eyed girl was no where to be found. A cold breeze blew by alerting Naruto that it was getting cold.

"I have to find her! Where could she have gone?" He muttered to himself.

Then something clicked in his head. He turned northward and ran toward the gates. He ran past the guards without a single word. He ran for ten minutes before he reached a field filled with different types of flowers and was surrounded by huge trees.

'_If she's not here, then I have to search the village again.'_ He looked around. But he didn't see his love anywhere.

"HINATA-CHAN!!!!" He called out. Nothing. He called out again. He listened for any sound, anything to tell him his Hinata was there.

He was about to turn around and head back to the village, but then he heard a noise. It was faint, but he heard it. He walked further into the field. Then he saw her. She was crying softly with her knees pulled up to her chest. She wasn't wearing her jacket, so she was just in her sleeveless dark purple v-neck shirt with mesh underneath. He kneeled beside her and saw she was trembling, from both the cold and her tears. He took off his jacket and placed it around her. Her head turned toward him. After a moment she placed her head against his chest and he held her in his arm. Hinata sobbed harder and held onto him like he would disappear if she let go.

"Hinata-chan lets go home." He felt he shake her head and heard her mumble something.

"Nani?"

"I don't want to go back to that place. I don't want to be forced into a marriage that I don't want." Hinata held on tighter.

Naruto picked her up and carried her back to konohagakure. "You don't have to go back to the Hyuuga Compound. If you want you can stay…with me."

Hinata looked into his eyes searching for any hint of a lie. Then she realized it was Naruto and knew he wouldn't lie to her.

"Are you sure? I don't want to be a burden."

He chuckled, "You're anything but a burden. I want you to stay with me."

"But my Otou-san…"

He cut her off. "I'll talk to him. Okay?"

Hinata nodded and asked to be put down.

They walked back to the village hand in hand, in a comfortable silence. Naruto led them through the gate and toward the Hyuuga Copmpund. Hinata noticed the path they were taking and her eyes widened in fear. She stopped walking. Naruto saw she wasn't next to him anymore and looked back in concern. He then smiled and moved in front of her. He stroked her cheek with the back of his fingers.

"Gomen, I was going to take you back to the compound to get your stuff for the mission. If you want you can go ahead to the apartment. I have to talk to Hiashi anyways. Ok?" He smiled softly at the woman before him.

She nodded and Naruto handed her the key. "When we come back from our mission, I'll have a new set made for you."

Hinata kissed him then started heading toward the apartment. Naruto watched her walk down the street before he turned down the street to where the Hyuuga's resided. His expression had changed to a more serious one. He knew what he wanted to talk to Hiashi about wouldn't sit well with him or the so called 'Elders'.

He arrived at the front of the Hyuuga compound and knock on the door. The wait was long and felt like hours, but in reality it was really five minutes. The door opened revealing Neji with a look of surprise.

He looked around for his cousin, but she was no where to be found. "Where is Hinata-sama? Did you find her?"

Naruto nodded, "Yeah, I found her. She'll be staying with me tonight. So do you think I could get her pack and a change of clothes for her?"

Neji spoke, "Naruto-san, I hope you will restrain yourself and keep you hands off my cousin. Am I understood?"

Naruto nodded, "Understood neji. No funny business."

"Ok then, come inside and I'll retrieve what you asked for." He stepped to the side and let Naruto in.

Naruto just waited for neji in the Main room. He watched as servants went about their business. From around the corner walked a Hyuuga elder. She looked to be in her fifties, with gray hair and the Hyuuga's white eyes. She wore the traditional Hyuuga robes and walked with an air of superiority. She spotted Naruto and briskly walked over to him. She looked disgusted.

"What in the world do you think your doing here, BAKEMONO? You have no right to be in here! You'll taint the entire clan with your evil stench."

Naruto didn't look at her. He just kept waiting for Neji. The Hyuuga elder grew even angrier. She threw a Jyuuken strike toward him, aiming for his stomach. But before the hit connected, someone caught it.

"Hirako-sama, please refrain from violence against a person who has done nothing wrong. Show that you have some dignity." The person who caught them palm strike was none other than Hyuuga, Hiashi.

Hirako just huffed and stormed off. Hiashi watched until she had left then turned to Naruto.

"So Naruto-san, have you found my daughter?"

Naruto looked at hiashi with a serious expression. "Hai and she told me she's being forced into an arranged marriage. Is that true?"

Hiashi studied the boy in front of him. "Come with me to my office. We must discuss something."

Naruto followed him into his office. The room was a traditional room with tatami mats, a small oak table and scroll paintings around the room. Hiashi sat down and motioned Naruto to do the same. Reluctantly, Naruto sat down waiting for him to talk. Hiashi looked thoughtful for a moment.

"Naruto-san, as you may have been told, my daughter is to be married to the Daimyo's grandson." He kept his face neutral and emotionless.

Naruto clenched his fists, but didn't say a word. Hiashi continued to speak, "I was not told of this intended marriage. The council went behind my back and struck a deal with the daimyo."

Naruto glared, "You expect me to believe that the elders went behind your back without your knowledge. How stupid do you think I am?"

"Naruto-san please let me finish." Hiashi waited for the blonde to calm down. "I've been trying to delay these types of marriages ever since Hinata was fourteen. Until now, I have been successful. I truly believed that she would not suffer this fate. She was so happy being with you and you both reminded me of my late wife and my old self. Back before she died, my wife believed that you can't force some one to marry against there will. I still believe that."

Naruto remained silent, but mildly interested. Hiashi stood and walked over to one of the bookshelves in the room.

"There are only a two ways to resolve this issue."

Naruto's ears perked up and he listened intently.

"One, Hinata is to be disowned and banished from this estate."

Naruto spoke with sadness, "I don't want Hinata to be separated from her family. I know what its like not to have family to depend on."

Hiashi looked at the young man and saw he had his head down. "Or two, she could fight the suitor and if she wins she'll be freed from the contract."

Naruto was about to speak, but hiashi beat him to it. "But that could cause tension between the daimyo and konoha. I don't think it would be wise."

Naruto stared back down. Hiashi sighed. "Suimasen, Naruto-san, but there aren't a lot of options."

Naruto looked downtrodden. He couldn't believe that the one girl that he loved and had accepted him was going to be married off to some rich nobleman that would probably not treat her the way she should be. Anger settled in the pit of Naruto's stomach and sat there stirring inside him.

Hiashi put a hand on the younger mans shoulder. "Naruto-san, I will try my best to stop the marriage from going through. I think I have one last ace in the hole but, I will not use it until I have to. Do you understand?"

Naruto nodded. "Arigatou, hiashi-dono. I just wish that she didn't have to go through this. Is it alright with you if Hinata stays with me for a while after we get back from our mission? Maybe sometime away from the elders and this compound will help put her more at ease."

Hiashi seemed to think this over for a moment. "Very well, just make sure she is comfortable. I will use this time to undo this contract."

Naruto stood and bowed deeply to the Hyuuga leader. Then turned and walked toward the door where he met neji. Who smiled and handed Naruto the two packs and said their goodbyes.

Naruto entered his apartment and heard silence. He put the mission gear near the door and walked toward his room. He passed haru who was sleeping on top of a pile of clothes he tore to shreds. He opened his door quietly and peered in. He saw that Hinata had borrowed a pair of pajama pants and a blue t-shirt from his drawers. He smiled at her sleeping form. She was sleeping on her side facing the door. She wasn't covered and was shivering. He put the bag he asked neji to get down.

He walked over to the bed and sat down, making sure to sit down softly so he didn't wake her. He kissed her cheek and got up so he could change. After taking off his clothes and slipping a pair of pajama pants on, the only pair that haru hadn't torn, he slipped in to the bed next to Hinata and covered them both with the blanket.

Hinata snuggled into the warmth and Naruto held her closer. Hinata sensing more warmth, embraced Naruto and let her leg intertwine with naruto's and nestled her head into the crook of his neck.

Naruto breathed in her scent and quickly fell asleep.

(Elsewhere)

Ranmaru and Hotaru were standing in front of four other people. Behind them was a village with the same symbol that Ranmaru wore on his armor, carved into the arch. There was a large palace in the very center.

One of six warriors was taller than the rest at about seven feet tall. He wore a proud smirk on his face. He had dark brown wild hair. A grey bandanna was around his forehead. Red eyes made him look fierce. He was in his early twenties. He wore a large grey shirt and a black armored chest plate and grey pants. On the front of the armor was a bulls head with huge horns. Next to him was a huge wooden hammer. The entire this looked like it weighed 500 pounds.

Next to him was a woman, who was in her late teens. She looked bored and was sitting on the floor, her head propped up by her hand. She had light blue hair that was short and in a small pontail. She had bangs swept to the right and held by a green pin. She had gold eyes and wore a white shirt under a blue sleeveless vest with dark blue pants. On the back of the jacket was a embroidering of a bird in flight. She had an elegant double bladed Naginata sitting across her lap.

Beside her was a man of the same age, who looked just like the girl next to him. They were obviously twins. The only difference was he had spiky hair and was wearing a white shirt under a jade colored armor and had green pants. On the front of the armor he had a picture of two headed dog that looked menacing and dual broad swords strapped to his back in an X.

To the left of him, was a man in his early twenties with shoulder long locks of spiky jet black hair and green eyes. He looked impassive. He wore a black samurai chest plate and no shirt underneath showing his muscular form. He had black pants cuffed at mid-calf with red shin and fore arm guards and a red sash around his waist. Around his left bicep was a gold band with the kanji for devil on it. He had a tattoo of a summoning seal on his right shoulder. In the center of the chest plate was a ruby red dragon with its wings spread. He had two 12 inch combat knives attached to each leg.

Beside Ranmaru was Hotaru wearing her golden armor, forearm and shin guards, and light brown shirt, pants and sash. She had golden yellow locks that reached the middle of her back and soft blue eyes. She had a katana slung across her back and a lion's head helmet tucked under her arm.

Ranmaru looked at each of them and smirked. Ranmaru was in his mid- twenties with short white hair pushed back out of his face. [A/N: Like Vergil's from devil may cry]

He stood five feet seven inches and had blood red pants that were cuffed mid calf, black as night shin guards, a samurai chest plate and forearm guards of the same color as the shin guards, a blood red sash and a blood red short sleeved shirt underneath. There was a blood red insignia on the chest plate of two wolves circling each other, one was chasing an image of the sun and the other was chasing an image of a full moon. He had six, two inch in diameter and one foot in length, cylinders attached to his thighs, three on each leg and a black katana on his hip with a wolf's head helmet under his arm.

"My honored brethren…" He got their immediate attention. "We come together, to unite as one, against those that damn us. We show no mercy…for we have none."

The ones that were sitting stood at attention.

"Our enemies shall fall…as we steel ourselves to claim what is rightfully ours." He had a serious look on his face. "And what do we want?"

"FREEDOM!!!!" They shouted in unison.

The wild haired man stepped forward, "I, Kishimoto, Kazuma, will follow you anywhere you lead Ranmaru-dono!" He lifted the hammer with one hand and effortlessly laid it across his strong shoulders.

"I, Fuuma, Ryuusei, also make that pledge." The black haired man, known as Ryuusei, remained impassive.

"Right, I, Kozuki, Sora, will follow you where you lead." The blue haired girl saluted with a sudden serious face.

The blue haired male just looked toward Ranmaru, "Even though we made this pledge already, I, Kozuki, Seiji, will follow you even to hell and back if you wished it, Ranmaru-sensei."

"I, Tsukishiro, Hotaru, shall also renew my pledge to follow you." Hotaru smiled.

"And I, Kururugi, Ranmaru, shall lead you to the best of my ability. Now let us go and claim what's ours!!" They headed toward the palace.

(The palace)

Ranmaru walked up to the huge reinforced wooden doors. He looked thoughtful for a moment, and then kicked the doors off their hinges. He motioned to four different directions and Kazuma, Ryuusei, Sora and Seiji followed the unspoken command.

In the center of the room were two thrones. Sitting on the biggest was a man in his forties, with long white hair and purple eyes. He wore elegant robes meant for royalty. Next to him was a woman who was slightly younger. She had green hair and brown eyes; she was of average height and of average beauty.

The man in elegant robes stood and spoke with authority and anger. "How dare, you barge into this place. You are to leave at once or be held responsible for your actions. GUARDS!!!!"

A knife was against his neck before he could blink. Ryuusei was holding the knife firmly against the man's neck.

"Iie, oji-san you will listen to me for just a moment. You see for too long I have had to do your bidding, slaughtering innocent villagers and unarmed soldiers. Their blood is on my hands. Well the time has come for me to take destiny into my own hands. So these five warriors and I shall leave this village and maybe we will consider returning when there is a new just ruler."

"You are a disgrace to the Batousei Clan and this village. LEAVE NOW!!" The lord made to move toward the younger man, but was stopped by the knife at his throat.

"Oji-san, you seem to be under the impression that I care about the Batousei Clan. You don't recall that I have given up that damned name. Batousei, Ranmaru died so long ago. That name is the symbol for hate and fear in this country. We shall leave, BUT not until I claim what is rightfully mine."

"You will never claim this throne, bakemono! I will die before that happens!" The lord sneered at the younger man.

"That isn't what I want Menomaru-sama. What I want is not the throne, but something more precious."

As he finished his speech, Sora appeared kneeling before Ranmaru holding an elegant rectangular case that was about seven feet long and two feet wide. Ranmaru took the case from his subordinate and placed it on the ground and opened it. He pulled out a broad sword that had a four and a half feet long blade with a foot long hilt. The guard resembled a wolf's head trying to swallow the blade and was silver with red stones embedded in the eyes. The blade was curved only slightly curved and almost resembled a wolf's fang. He reached into the case once more and retrieved a blood red saya (sheath) that was the length of the blade and the opening was made to fit the guard's design. Along the side was an inscription that read, 'Only descendants of the Ookami deity may be my master' in kanji and it had a black leather strap so he could wear the sword on his back.

"Ragnarok, the sword used by Fenrir himself. It seems you took good care of it for me, polished and razor sharp." Ranmaru admired the sword for a moment longer then sheathed the sword and slung the sword across his back. The weight felt comforting.

The woman next to menomaru, who had up until now been silent, spoke. "You worthless mongrel, how dare you touch that sword. My late husband, Shigure, must be turning in his grave. By what right do you…" The woman could no longer speak. Hotaru's hand was crushing her wind pipe.

Hotaru looked at the noblewoman with an ice cold glare. She whispered to the suffocating woman, "How dare you bring up Shigure-dono!! You aren't worthy to think of him let alone speak even a syllable of his name. How long did you wait, after his death, before you married this man? Shigure-dono gave up the woman he…"

"Enough Hotaru! Let her go, we've got what we came for. Let us depart. Their time will come when they must answer for what they've done." Ranmaru turned his back and headed for the door that was lying, shattered, on the ground.

The five warriors followed their leader. But not before Hotaru punched a hole in the woman's throne only inches from her face.

Once outside, there were bodies littering the streets. They were all unconscious or unavle to move.

"Where do we go now, Ranmaru-dono?" Kazuma asked.

A man who had a broken leg jumped at Ranmaru. Who kicked his assailant, knocking him back down and unconscious Ranmaru kept walking; undeterred by his would be attacker. "To Konohagakure no Sato."

(Konohagakure: New Years Day)

Sasuke, Hikari, Hinata, Naruto and Sakura were waiting at the gate for the client to arrive so they could get started on the mission.

Sasuke and Hikari were sitting in a tree near the gate. Sasuke was leaning against the trunk with his eyes closed and arms wrapped around hikari. Hikari was leaning against his chest reading a novel that she always carried. Hikari had changed into her mission clothes. She was wearing a black jacket with a silver wolf on the back and black pants with a silver lining and a grey shirt underneath.

Naruto was beside Hinata who was sitting under the tree that sasuke and Hikari were sitting on. Hinata would occasionally giggle or blush at something Naruto said.

Saskura was leaning against the gate looking at the ground.

A woman with dark blue hair and brown eyes walked up to the waiting shinobi.

"It's nice to see you all again." The woman said with excitement in her voice.

Everyone looked at the woman. She was wearing a brown cap, a green buttoned shirt and brown pants. The thing that caught everyone's attention was the purple jewel that was hanging from her neck.

Naruto broke the silence, "Who are you?"

Everyone sweat dropped. "It's me Koyuki from Yuki no Kuni. I'm in disguise."

The shinobi walked over to koyuki and said there hellos.

"Sugoi, Naruto-kun you got really tall." Koyuki gave Naruto a hug and a kiss on the cheek. This left the blonde shinobi red.

Hinata frowned and looked at Naruto. He noticed the frown and wrapped an arm around the hyuuga.

"Koyuki-chan, meet the most precious person in my life… Hyuuga, Hinata." Naruto had a huge grin on his face and was rubbing the back of his head.

"Kawaii, so this is the girl you were telling me about in your letters. It's finally nice to meet you, I've heard a lot about you." Koyuki hugged the raven haired kunoichi causing her to blush.

"Naruto-kun has t-talked a-about m-me." Hinata stuttered.

"Yeah, he would always talk about you and when he told me you were beautiful it seems he wasn't exaggerating." She turned her attention to sasuke and hikari.

"Sasuke-kun, so how's the avenger thing working for you?"

Sasuke graced the woman with a small smile. "I'm through with that. After a while, I just grew tired of the isolation and pain that I was causing the ones who I consider my family."

Naruto started laughing and was pointing at the uchiha, "Bullshit, the reason you came back was because when we found you, Hikari kicked the shit out of you. I remember the dazed look you had on your face and the fact that anytime you acted like your old 'stick in your ass uchiha' self she would be the one who brought you back to your senses. Then after a few more beatings you asked her out on a date."

The uchiha had a rare blush on his face. "Shut it dobe. Like you have any right to talk, how long did it take for you to see that Hinata was in love with you?"

"Okay, okay enough you two. Let's get going, you guys can fight later." Hikari scolded the two bickering teens.

"ALRIGHT, LET'S GO!!" Naruto started walking.

Everyone just shook their head at the blonde's antics, except for sakura who wasn't paying attention to the blonde, but was lost in her thoughts.

**ANNNNNND DONE!!! Wow this took a while. Hope you guys enjoyed it and will review. So have you figured out who Ranmaru is? What's the story between him and the lord of the Batousei Clan? Guess you just have to wait until next time to find out?**

**Next time: Paths cross and plans are unveiled!!**

**Til next time, JA' NE!!!!!!**


	5. Paths Crossed And Plans Are Unveiled!

**Hey everyone, I'm back. HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!! So, how did everyone like the last chapter? I hope this chapter will be a success and all of you out there will review or add this story to your favorites. Have any of you figured out what's Ranmaru's connection in this story, yet? What could sakura be planning? Will any of the shinobi be in danger? Guess you'll have to read to find out. By the way, I check the number of pages on the last chapter, 17 PAGES!!! Wow!!!**

**Disclaimer: I own NOTHING!! The only thing I own is this story line, and the OC's.**

**Aishiteru Vol.2**

**Chapter 5: Paths cross and plans are unveiled!!**

_Previously on Aishiteru Vol.2_

_(Naruto started laughing and was pointing at the uchiha, "Bullshit, the reason you came back was because when we found you, Hikari kicked the shit out of you. I remember the dazed look you had on your face and the fact that anytime you acted like your old 'stick in your ass uchiha' self she would be the one who brought you back to your senses. Then after a few more beatings you asked her out on a date."_

_The uchiha had a rare blush on his face. "Shut it dobe. Like you have any right to talk, how long did it take for you to see that Hinata was in love with you?"_

"_Okay, okay enough you two. Let's get going, you guys can fight later." Hikari scolded the two bickering teens._

"_ALRIGHT, LET'S GO!!" Naruto started walking._

_Everyone just shook their head at the blonde's antics, except for sakura who wasn't paying attention to the blonde, but was lost in her thoughts.)_

**(Five days later)**

"We're actually making good time. I think if we keep up the pace that I've set then we should reach the resort in a few more hours." Sasuke looked at the map with the location of their destination.

Their destination was the Hanjiru Onsenmachi (Divine Hot springs resort) in a town located south of the capital of Yuki no Kuni.

The group of shinobi, plus a disguised Koyuki, had been traveling for five days now and had encountered minimal confrontations with bandits. But they were visited many times by animals looking for food. In one case, a lone kitsune had wondered into camp and would follow Hinata around like she was its mother. Every time they went to bed, the kitsune would scratch and bark at Hinata and naruto's tent until they let it in.

The little fox grew on everyone and they decided to let it stay with them. The fox was a girl, so they named her, Kokoa. She had white fur and blue eyes and was the same size as haru. If anything the little kitsune, was a distraction from the boring journey. She would blend in with the surrounding snow and hinata would spend a while looking for her and when she did the kitsune would always be playful and run around and in between everyone. Making them laugh at its antics.

Only minutes away from their destination, sasuke signaled the group to hide in the nearby bush. He hand signaled hikari to go and scout ahead. Hikari did as she was told and silently jumped through the bush and down the road.

The rest of the group waited. They didn't have to wait long until they saw another group of people walking down the road. They were laughing and joking as the walked. There were six of them, four males and two females.

The tallest one was about seven feet tall. He had dark brown wild hair. A grey bandanna was around his forehead. Red eyes made him look fierce. He was in his early twenties. He wore a large grey shirt and a black armored chest plate and grey pants. On the front of the armor was a bulls head with huge horns. He was carrying a huge wooden hammer. The entire this looked like it weighed 500 pounds. But the way he was carrying it made it seem like nothing.

The two walking in front of him were identical. Both looked to be in their late teens. The girl had light blue hair that was short and in a small ponytail. She had bangs swept to the right and held by a green pin. She had gold eyes and wore a white shirt under a blue sleeveless vest with dark blue pants. On the back of the jacket was a embroidering of a bird in flight. She had an elegant double bladed Naginata slung on her back ready for use.

The boy, probably her brother, he had spiky hair and was wearing a white shirt under a jade colored armor and had green pants. On the front of the armor he had a picture of two headed dog that looked menacing and dual broad swords strapped to his back in an X.

A woman wearing a helmet resembling a lion's head, with golden armor and brown pants and shirt, a gold sash across her waist, and katana on her hip, was walking next to a man in his early twenties with shoulder long locks of spiky jet black hair and green eyes.

He looked impassive, not really paying the woman any attention. He wore a black samurai chest plate and no shirt underneath showing his muscular form. He had black pants cuffed at mid-calf with red shin and fore arm guards and a red sash around his waist. Around his left bicep was a gold band with the kanji for devil on it. He had a tattoo of a summoning seal on his right shoulder. In the center of the chest plate was a ruby red dragon with its wings spread. He had two 12 inch combat knives attached to each leg.

Lastly, in the front of the group was a man in his early twenties. He stood five feet seven inches and had blood red pants that were cuffed mid calf, black as night shin guards, a samurai chest plate and forearm guards of the same color as the shin guards, a blood red sash and a blood red short sleeved shirt underneath. There was a blood red insignia on the chest plate of two wolves circling each other, one was chasing an image of the sun and the other was chasing an image of a full moon. He had six, two inch in diameter and one foot in length, cylinders attached to his thighs, three on each leg and a black katana on his hip with a black wolf's head helmet on his head shadowing the top of his face. Around his neck was a black choker with a pearl colored full moon attached.

The group was about to pass the hiding shinobi. They had gone unnoticed, or so they thought.

The group stopped walking, and then the man wearing the wolf's helmet turned his head toward the bush that the shinobi were currently hiding in.

"If you're going to hide…make sure no one is wearing bright colors, like pink." The man with the wolf helmet said bluntly.

The konoha nin jumped out of the bush and assumed fighting stances. The other group just laughed, surprising the Konoha shinobi.

"WHAT'S SO FUNNY?" The haruno girl cried out in embarrassment.

The giant calmed down and explained. "You all assumed we were here to fight and that's why we found you, but it's actually for another reason. We just thought you could use some advice."

Sasuke remained on guard as he took in the other group's appearance.

"Maybe if you didn't look like you were ready for war, we wouldn't be so tense." Sasuke made a good point.

"Perhaps we should introduce ourselves." The man with the wolf helmet nods at his friends.

First is the black haired guy. "I am Fuuma, Ryuusei."

Then the giant, "Konnichi wa, I am Kishimoto, Kazuma."

The blue haired girl goes next, "My name is Kozuki, Sora and this is my Onii-san Seiji." The blue haired male nodded.

"I am Tsukishiro, Hotaru." Hotaru took off her helmet revealing blonde wavy locks and her soft blue eyes.

The last of the group also took off his helmet, revealing white hair that fell down his face. He pushed his hair back revealing that his right eye was golden and the left was purple and smiled at the shinobi. "And my name is Kururugi, Ranmaru. We are also known as the Celestial Beings."

Sakura was amazed at the beautiful man in front of her.

Sasuke spoke first, "I am Uchiha, Sasuke. And these are my teammates; the blonde is Uzumaki, Naruto…"

Naruto smiled happily, "Hey!"

"Then there is Hyuuga, Hinata…"

Hinata bowed, "Pleased to meet you."

"Haruno, Sakura."

The pink haired girl said nothing.

"And lastly this is Hatake, Hikari. She is our client and we are currently traveling." He pointed to the disguised Koyuki.

"Impressive, members of the Hyuuga Clan and the Uchiha Clan. Both are famous for their skill and reputation for being the best. It's an honor." Ranmaru spoke with sincerity.

"As it stands we must be on are way. So, until we meet again." They turned to leave, but a thought struck Ranmaru and he turned to the disguised Koyuki. "Oh, and by the way, it was nice seeing you again, Koyuki-hime. Hopefully next time, our meeting will be under better circumstances."

The Celestial Beings walked on, in the direction they were headed before they stopped.

**(With the celestial beings)**

When they were out of hearing distance, Ranmaru chuckled. Hotaru looked at him with confusion.

"I have a feeling we'll be seeing them again soon." Ranmaru smiled.

Hotaru just shrugged and replaced her helmet on her head, Ranmaru followed suit.

**(With Sasuke and the others)**

"Well, they were nice." Naruto scratched the back of his head.

Everyone looked at him with an 'Are you serious?' look.

"Nani?" He asked honestly.

Hikari jumped down from the trees a moment later. "What'd I miss?"

Sasuke just shook his head, "Let's get moving. We're almost there."

**(****Hanjiru Onsenmachi)**

They reached their destination and were given their room. They had three rooms connected to one living area. Sakura and Koyuki were in one room, Naruto and Hinata, along with kokoa, shared one and Sasuke and Hikari had the last one.

They girls were going to bathe in the natural hot springs that the hotel was famous for. They were in their hot spring robes and were waiting on the guys.

Sakura was the only one not going. She was in her room lost in thought. She still couldn't get over how handsome Ranmaru was. She didn't hear the knocking at her door and koyuki's invitation to go to the springs. She was in her own little world filled with thoughts of the white haired man, Ranmaru.

**(Outside sakura's room)**

Koyuki and the others shrugged and left to the springs. Unfortunately for the guys, there were no coed baths. Naruto and Sasuke both had slumped shoulders as the girls went to the left and they had to go to the right.

**(On the guy's side)**

Naruto and sasuke entered the baths after quickly showering. Actually naruto had jumped into the baths and sasuke calmly walked into the hot spring.

Sasuke placed a cool towel on top of his head and relaxed in the warm water. He closed his eyes and sunk into the water until it was up to his shoulders. He was content.

'_Ah! If only I were this calm all the time.'_ He thought.

His thoughts were interrupted by the annoying blonde splashing water in his face. Making the Uchiha bolt upright and glare at the blonde.

Naruto just smiled and said, "Water wars have begun!"

Sasuke sighed, "I can never rest around you, can I?"

Naruto just laughed and splashed him again. The uchiha had a scowl on his face and growled. He took the bait and started to splash the blonde back. The blonde just laughed and the war had begun.

**(On the girl's side)**

The women had settled into the soothing waters after rinsing off in the shower, clad in a small white towel. They began to talk about everything they could think of. The topics ranged from what they were up to and to their love lives.

Then Koyuki asked the golden question, "Have you guys gone to the next level of your relationships yet?"

Hinata and hikari blushed. They didn't want to divulge any information, but their blushes gave them away. Causing koyuki to laugh.

"So how was it?" She asked in a secretive whisper.

Hikari got over her embarrassment and spoke with a mischievous smile. "Why do you want to know? Have you ever experienced it? You're what five years older than us?"

Koyuki stuttered, "W-what makes you think I haven't?"

"Well for one, you can't answer my question with a straight face and you're curious."

"S-so?!"

"Give it up, koyuki-chan. Any ways the one we should be asking is you Hinata-chan."

Both women turned toward the blushing Hyuuga, who was slowly sinking into the water to avoid their knowing gazes. Hinata submerged herself until she was covered up to her nose.

"So, how was he?" They both had mischievous smiles on their faces.

The Hyuuga heiress just blew bubbles in the water. They wouldn't let up, so she finally said, "It was the best night of my life and the best morning ever."

Her blush intensified as the two girls squeal in excitement. Then they began talking about what else they were going to do after they got out of the hot springs.

**(On the other side)**

"Ne sasuke, I've been wondering, why did you call Koyuki, Hikari?" The blonde asked the uchiha.

"Because dobe, if they knew that we had sent one of our squad members away, what would they have done?"

Naruto shrugged, making sasuke sigh in annoyance. "They would have probably attacked us or gone after Hikari, knowing that she was alone. That's why. The thing is though they knew that we were lying and just simply walked off. I have a feeling we're going to see them again."

The blonde nodded.

"Well, I'm getting out. G'night dobe."

Naruto stayed in the water a while longer before getting out and heading back to the room.

**(In the adjoining living room)**

There was a large meal waiting for the tired shinobi and koyuki. There was an assortment of grilled and steamed vegetables, shrimp, sushi, fish, grilled meats, soups and rice.

It was amazing. Everyone sat down and dug in. Naruto didn't complain about the lack of ramen, but he thanked Hinata for introducing him to new foods over the course of the relationship. They drank tea and talked for a while before turning in for the night. Everyone slept deeply and dreamed. All except for one, she was leaning on her windowsill, still having thoughts of a man named Ranmaru.

One thought raced through her mind though, '_I still love Naruto, but I can't get Ranmaru out of my mind.'_

Sakura finally went to sleep, dreaming of both men that she loved.

**(****The next morning: Naruto and Hinata's Room)**

Hinata woke up as the sun shone through the blinds. She turned the other way to avoid the sun and sleep longer. She felt Naruto move. One of his hands moved from around her waist upward, under her shirt and toward her chest. His hand cupped her breast and the other pulled her closer. Hinata could feel his steady warm breath on the back of her neck, making her blush and the hair on her neck stand on end.

"N-Naruto-kun, are you awake?" Her answer was a mummer from her lover.

"Nani?" she whispered.

"Five more minutes, Hina-chan." He replied groggily.

Hinata giggled softly as she felt Naruto snuggle into her hair. The blonde slowly opened his eyes as the sun blanketed the room in a heavenly glow. He tried to close his eyes again, but he felt something soft in his hands.

"Naru-kun, can you please remove your hand from my chest. Though it feels good, now's not the time." Hinata told her blonde lover.

Naruto's other hand went up her shirt and cupped the other breast as he smirked into her hair.

"Really, Hina-chan? Because I think now is the perfect time for a little fun." He replied huskily.

He used his nose to move the hyuuga heiress' hair so he could kiss her neck. As he massaged Hinata's breasts gently. Hinata moaned softly and a blush adorned her pale face. Naruto pulled his arm from hinata's breast to push himself up; Hinata turned toward him and was met by his lips gently caressing hers. Things started get more passionate and they were about to indulge themselves in a round of lovemaking, when koyuki's voice stopped them cold.

"Hey Hinata-chan, can I come in? I have the kimono's I bought for us to wear to the market place. I hear the have a great shopping district and there's a festival going on righ…" Koyuki had walked right into their room without permission and caught the two lovers in an awkward moment. Meaning Koyuki, had walked in and seen Naruto above Hinata with his hand up her shirt.

Koyuki blushed and just stared with wide eyes before slowly walking back out the door, muttering an apology.

Naruto and Hinata just blushed and started laughing. They separated and Naruto threw on a shirt and shorts. He walked out of the room and saw Koyuki leaning against the wall next to the door.

"It's okay to go in, Hinata should be showering right now." He had an underlying tone of annoyance in his voice.

Koyuki smiled and walked into the lovers' room. Hikari had walked in right after her. Naruto just shrugged and headed into Sasuke's room. Neji and Sasuke were in there examing the winter kimono that Koyuki had got them.

Sasuke was wearing a dark blue kimono with white fans scattered in a random pattern with a black sash.

Neji had a beige kimono with a dark brown sash. His looked the plainest of them all.

Naruto's was a black kimono with an orange sash. The kimono had the kanji for hero on the back in orange and orange spirals decorating it.

It was hard for Naruto to put on the kimono, but with neji's help he managed.

They exited the room and sat in the living area, drinking tea waiting for the girls to finish getting ready.

They only had to wait twenty minutes before the girls walked out. It was three girls that came out, Hinata, Hikari and Koyuki. Saskura walked out of her own room.

Hinata was wearing a light lavender kimono with white feather designs and a blue obi. Her hair was tied in loose ponytail with a white ribbon. Naruto's mouth was watering at the sight before him.

Hikari was wearing a dark purple kimono with gold paw print designs and a gold obi. Her hair was pulled into a bun held by hair sticks; her bangs were pulled to one side and held by a purple clip. Sasuke blushed lightly, but he was internally drooling over his girlfriend.

Koyuki was wearing a snow white kimono that had blue snowflakes as the design. She too had her hair pulled into a bun and held by elegant hair sticks.

Sakura was the only one not wearing a traditional kimono. She was wearing a white and green kimono top that showed her stomach and a green mini-skirt with white high heels.

Sasuke finally tore his gaze from his girlfriend to address more serious business.

"Is everyone ready?" They nodded. "Okay, all of you need to wear a long range communicators incase something happens, got it."

They all attached the communicators' band around their necks and placed the earpiece into their right ears. They were ready.

"Okay, we're going to break into three groups. Remember this isn't a vacation. Koyuki is a daimyo and should be protected. First group is Naruto and Hinata, the second group is Koyuki and Sakura, and finally, Hikari and I are the third group. We must be discreet, understand?"

They nodded again and headed out each spreading out, but still within distance.

"Hey where's Kokoa?" Hinata asked and received a shrug in return.

**(Elsewhere)**

The traveling group of six warriors were taking down their campsite and extinguishing the fire. Ranmaru was handling the refilling of the canteens in the nearby river when a white kitsune came up and pulled at his pant leg. He reached for the annoying kitsune, but it jumped away and barked, getting down on it front legs.

"Alright, alright. What do you want? Food, water or do you just want to play?" Ranmaru sat Indian style and leaned on his hand.

The white kitsune just barked and wagged its tail. This made Ranmaru laugh, until he sensed a large amount of chakra headed in the direction they had just come from. It wasn't just one chakra source, but many. He tried to count them, but stopped when he realized it was an army consisting of more than two hundred shinobi.

One of the sources followed by a small contingent broke of from the group and headed his way.

'_I have to say, if I didn't know better, that little kitsune planned this out.'_ He thought as he looked around for the white animal.

He stood as the unwelcomed guests arrived. They were wearing grey uniforms with purple knotted belts around their waists. They wore the hitai-ate for Otōgakure. One with orange hair and green eyes stepped forward and spoke to Ranmaru.

"Do you know of or have seen Uchiha, Sasuke or Uzumaki, Naruto?" The man pulled out two pictures and should it to him.

Ranmaru stared at the pictures for a minute before saying, "Nope, never seen 'em. Why are you looking for 'em? Do they owe you money? Hey, I bet one of them slept with your girlfriend or something like that and you want revenge. Am I right?"

The otō-nin seethed in anger and ordered his men to attack. Before they got within range of Ranmaru they stopped suddenly and Ranmaru appeared behind the charging mob of shinobi. His katana pointed at the ground before he spun it in his hand so the hilt was backwards in his hand. He slowly slid the blade back into the saya. Before he completely sheathed his sword he said with a straight face…

"Hmph, amateurs, they were no challenge at all."

Then with the click of the guard hitting the saya, the frozen shinobi fell as gashes appeared on their bodies and limbs or heads fell off. The leader coward in fear and Ranmaru stepped forward.

"Go run back to your leader and tell him if he messes with me or my comrades, there will be no mercy."

He kicked at the scared man and he went running back to the large moving group.

Ranmaru walked back to the disassembled camp and was met with expectant gazes.

He sighed, "Let's go, they may need our help."

They made sure to stay five hundred feet behind the army, so as to remain undetected.

**(Back in Konohagakure)**

Tsunade had just received word from their intelligence network that a large scale army of Oto-nin had started moving north. It troubled her. What could they be looking for up north, she would repeatedly ask herself.

"Shizune!!!" She hollered.

Shizune rushed into the office followed by her pet pig tonton. "What is it, Tsunade-sama?"

Tsunade looked serious and her voice expressed the urgency of the situation. "Find me, Kakashi, Sai, and Gai's team and order them into my office this instant. I suggest you gear up, Shizune. They're going to need all the help they can get."

Shizune ran out of the office to pack and find the needed shinobi.

Tsunade sighed and turned in her chair to look out the window. "Please be safe…all of you."

**(Back with the Konoha shinobi)**

Nothing happened while the shopping shinobi walked around. Naruto won a stuffed purple cat, which she loved.

Sasuke and Naruto wound up trying to beat each other in a game of shoot out. The competitive teens' girlfriends cheered their guy on. Needless to say, Sasuke won, leaving a very pissed Naruto.

Koyuki was also having the time of her life. She bought many sweets to share with her friends. Sakura on the other hand, wondered around looking at various stands with little interest.

Sakura turned away from the busy streets and climbed stairs leading to a Shinto temple. The plaque at the entrance read, "Kaminari Shrine". Sakura looked around and didn't see a single soul anywhere.

A breeze blew by making the haruno cover her eyes as dust and dirt were carried by the wind.

When she opened her eyes, a man in a black cloak was sitting on the temple steps.

The man looked like a blue shark with a covered sword on his back.

One name came to mind, "Kisame."

"Yeah, and fortunately I'm not here to kill you." The shark man grinned evilly.

Sakura stepped back, her hands up, ready to defend herself. "Then what do you want?"

Kisame stood and looked at the pink haired girl with a sneer. "I was ordered to offer you a deal. If you help us capture the Kyuubi Jinchuuriki will make sure not to kill him and you get to live happily ever after with him."

Sakura lowered her hands. "Why would I ever consider that?"

"Because, we've been watch everyone in your little group and we know you are in love with that thing. Hell, all we ask is that you do one simple little thing."

Sakura slowly put her arms down, but remained on her guard. "How can you be sure to guarantee his survival after you pull out the Kyuubi?"

"There is another technique that can be used to take away the Biju from the host with out killing it. As for what you'll have to do, you just have to kill one person in your group to prove to us that you're willing to cooperate. It doesn't matter who, just kill some one. An army of ninja will be here to help us capture the jinchuuriki in five days, you have until then."

Kisame pulled a scroll from his pocket and placed it on the ground in front of the pink haired girl. "Use what's inside when you done what's been asked of you. Or destroy it and will have our answer.''

And with another gust of wind Kisame was gone. Sakura looked indecisive before she picked up the scroll and hid it in her sleeve. She walked back to the festival in time to meet with her team mates and head back to the hotel. She didn't notice it was already sundown. She said nothing of what happened at the shrine.

They ate and went to bed. Sakura stayed up twirling the scroll in her hand before gripping it tightly in her hand and smiled. She went to sleep and dreamt of her and Naruto.

**(With Ranmaru)**

Ranmaru and his comrades silently hid in the trees. They watched the army settle down for the night in a clearing. Ranmaru kept his eyes on the enemy shinobi as he leaned against the tree trunk while he was sitting on one of the limbs.

"Hotaru…at the rate they're going, we'll be there in five days." His eyes never left the enemy.

Hotaru, who was on the limb above him nodded. "Should we go around and surprise them. Maybe cut down some of their numbers? It'd beat sitting here in the dark."

Ranmaru shifted slightly getting more comfortable. "Iie, we'll try to cut off some of their squads from the main force. That way it would be a while before they notice the missing numbers. Maybe…" He paused in thought. "…the six squads on the right and four from the back. Then we could regroup and head up the pass before them. We'd have to be sure not to draw attention from the middle or front battalions. Then if they have reinforcements behind them we'll have to deal with them first." He sighed. "So many things to consider."

"So how do we handle it?" Hotaru asked.

Ranmaru sighed. "The six battalions on the right and four battalions from the back, those are our targets. Then we could ambush six more battalion's from the cliff just a couple miles from where we met the Konoha shinobi."

Hotaru chuckled, "No wonder they called you the 'Demonic Tactician'"

Ranmaru shook his head. "You know as well as I do that's not all they called me."

Hotaru scoffed. "Just take the damn compliment, geez!"

"Go get some sleep Hotaru, I take first watch."

"Iie, you go get sleep. I'll take first watch. You've been up for days watching out for everything, now you rest and we'll do the watching."

"Fine, just wake me if they move again." With that Ranmaru moved higher in to the tree on to another branch and went to sleep.

**Does sakura really intend to listen to kisame and kill some one? What is with the army heading their way? Ranmaru, is he bad or good? What is he looking for in Konohagakure? Well you'll have to wait until next time and be sure to review. I want to know if the story is good. Remember Flames are welcomed, but good reviews are appreciated.**

**Ja 'ne!!! ^_^**

**NEXT TIME ON AISHITERU vol.2: Deception and a Wolf's care!!**


	6. Deception and a Wolf's care!

**Disclaimer: I own the world and everything in it…in my IMAGINATION!!**

**Hey I'm back! So where did I leave off? Oh yeah…Will sakura actually go through with the plan to kill one of her teammates? If so, who will she pick? Or will she tell her teammates of what has transpired? Will reinforcements make it in time to help the unsuspecting shinobi or will Naruto and his friends be killed by an old enemy? The answers to these questions and more are in this chapter of…**

**Aishiteru vol.2**

**Chapter 6: Deception and a Wolf's care!!**

_Previously on Aishiteru Vol.2:_

_(Ranmaru sighed. "The six battalions on the right and four battalions from the back, those are our targets. Then we could ambush six more battalion's from the cliff just a couple miles from where we met the Konoha shinobi."_

_Hotaru chuckled, "No wonder they called you the 'Demonic Tactician'"_

_Ranmaru shook his head. "You know as well as I do that's not all they called me."_

_Hotaru scoffed. "Just take the damn compliment, geez!"_

"_Go get some sleep Hotaru, I take first watch."_

"_Iie, you go get sleep. I'll take first watch. You've been up for days watching out for everything, now you rest and we'll do the watching."_

"_Fine, just wake me if they move again." With that Ranmaru moved higher in to the tree on to another branch and went to sleep.)_

……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………_.._

The sun was just rising and illuminating the mountain ridge. The snow on the cold ground glistened and shined in the morning light. Animals ran and played or hunted in the early morning. But the perfect moment was ruined as more than two hundred otō-nin raced across the snow, leaving imprints that disturbed the pure white color with gray and brown.

Close behind them, but far enough that they could not be spotted even by the battalions in the back, were The Celestial Beings.

They were monitoring their movements so as not to be discovered. Ranmaru halted his team who immediately obeyed. The otō-nin kept moving unaware that their trackers were no longer following.

"What is it Ranmaru-sensei? Why aren't we following them anymore?" Seiji asked.

"Change of plans. From the way that things are currently, their going to get where their going in three days." He replied.

"Then we should strike now while the iron's hot. If this is our only chance then we should take it." Seiji gripped his right sword with an arrogant smirk.

Ranmaru bit his thumbnail in thought, "Iie, we can't take them all on and besides why deal with all of them when we can just…divide and conquer."

"Yosh, finally we get to fight!! Let's go!" Seiji started to move, but Ranmaru stopped him.

"We don't need to be reckless. We need to use our heads. If we reach the pass into the valley before them, we can use an avalanche to cut their numbers in half then take out the stragglers. If we move quickly we could be there in a day and set up the trap, then we wait."

"Ranmaru, surely Konohagakure has gotten wind of this and is planning to try and intercept this army. The have probably sent a couple of joûnin squads or even ANBU to take care of this. Why do we need to interfere?"

"Because, the reinforcements they would send, would probably get there too late. If we were able to diminish some of the numbers it would give those kids a chance. Do you want their blood and the blood of innocents to be spilled?"

Silence…

"I didn't think so. Now we move out in two teams. Sora, Seiji, and Kazuma will go into the pass and set traps and Hotaru, Ryuusei and I will take the opening. Make sure you're not spotted and if you encounter the enemy kill them and burn the body. Leave no trace of your presence. If any of them make it through it's up to kazuma's team to take them out…now go with the strength of Fenrir." The two groups sped off in different directions and at great speeds.

………………………

(At the Hanjiru Onsenmachi)

Sakura was practically skipping all through the day. She joined the others when they went out and wasn't staying in her room. In fact her mood had changed from what it had been a few days ago. Everyone noticed the change and wondered what happened, but didn't push the subject.

Sakura was looking around the town and a thought popped into her head. "I need to find that herb. It could really be beneficial to my healing. There supposed to grow in this region of Yuki no Kuni. I'll need some help though."

Sakura ran back to the hotel and looked for anybody who might be there. She was met with Hinata, hikari, and Koyuki who were playing cards who didn't look up from their game as she walked in. Sakura walked up to them and tapped Hinata on the shoulder.

"Gomen, but I need your help. You see there are some medicinal herbs that grow in this region that are extremely hard to find. I was wondering if you could lend me your eyes." Sakura asked with a small smile.

Hinata looked at the bubblegum haired girl and finally nodded. Hinata placed her cards on the table and went to her room to get her gear. Hikari looked at the medic with distrust. Hikari also placed her cards on the table and muttered something about going to sleep, even though it was only five in the evening.

Koyuki watched the white haired girl with confusion as she locked herself in her room. Sakura was a tiny bit satisfied that she had that effect on hikari and was gloating internally.

"So…" Koyuki started, "What's the plant that you're looking for?"

Sakura smiled and tilted her head slightly upwards, "It's a medicinal herb found only in a few areas around Yuki no Kuni. It's considered a very special ingredient in powerful antidotes and ointments used by my sensei and I wanted to bring some back."

The door opened revealing the males of the team with a few bags of groceries. Naruto was loudly talking about a past incident that he found amusing.

"…I can't believe it. I was able to get both you and Kakashi-sensei with one trap! You guys were trying for hours to get off the tar and feathers."

The uchiha just responded with a smack to the back of the blondes head, knocking him over. Naruto turned so he would land on his back and held the items up with a huge smile on his face.

"Saved 'em!"

Koyuki was laughing at the blondes antics. Hinata walked out of her room to see the comedic scene and couldn't help, but join in the laughter. Naruto sat up and grinned at the sight of the raven haired Hyuuga. He put the bags on the floor and stood up.

"Ne Hinata-chan, where are you going? Can I come?" He stood in front of his girlfriend and stared into her eyes lovingly.

Hinata was about to answer, but the haruno girl beat her to it. "Gomen Naruto, but this will probably take a while and you aren't known for your patience. If you come with us you might end up stepping on the plant were looking for and ruin it. So, in other words… NO."

Naruto's shoulders slumped, but Hinata gave him a feathery kiss and told him she wouldn't be long making her boyfriend lean close to her and whisper something in her ear that was meant only for her and made her blush.

Sakura turned away with disgust, hidden on her face, by a smile. "Let's go, Hinata before it gets dark."

Hinata gave Naruto a loving kiss before following the pink haired girl out of the room.

Naruto looked like a kicked puppy after Hinata walked out the door. Sasuke shook his head a looked around for hikari. Koyuki pointed to his room and sasuke walked into his room after putting the stuff down.

…………………………………

(In Sasuke's room)

Sasuke found hikari sitting on the windowsill looking out with uneasiness. Sasuke walked over to her and spoke in a concerned voice.

"What's wrong? Did something happen?"

Hikari shrugged and looked at her boyfriend with an emotion he had never seen before in her eyes…fear.

"Sasuke-kun, I have this horrible feeling in the pit of my stomach that something very bad is going to happen. I don't know what, but it makes me feel so helpless, like I won't be able to do anything."

Sasuke comforted her by pulling her close and holding her in his arms. Hikari rested her head on his chest and gripped his shirt.

"Maybe…its nothing, it could be something you ate or your getting sick."

That didn't seem to calm the white haired girl down and she gripped his shirt tighter. Sasuke lifted her face with his hand and stroked her cheek before kissing her softly. (A/N: If this seems too OOC then deal! Nyaaah!)

…………………………………

(With Hinata and Sakura)

They had traveled around for over an hour now and still found nothing. They even left the town to look for this plant. Hinata was about to give up when she spotted something and stopped, sakura doing the same.

"About twenty yards near that cliff is a plant I believe to be what you're looking for Sakura." Hinata waited for the pink haired girl to deicide what to do.

"Okay let's go. It's starting to get colder."

Hinata nodded and they both continued their journey. All the while, sakura was again lost in her thoughts. A strange feeling began to creep up her body and she was confused as to what it was.

They had reached the cliff and sakura inspected the plant. She nodded with a smile and picked it gently from its spot in the ground and put it into a container.

Sakura stood and looked at Hinata with a saddened look.

"Hinata, there's something I need to tell you…" She took a breath and continued. "A few days ago, I was approached by a member of the Akatsuki. He told me that their leader was hoping to recruit me into their ranks."

Hinata gasped and looked at the pink haired girl with disbelief. She was suddenly on guard.

"They told me in order to join their organization…I needed to…" Sakura looked at the girl with a cold glare. "…Kill a member of our squad and activate a scroll afterwards. I've thought long and hard about this and I come to a conclusion."

Her glare turned into a soft one and had an innocent tone underlying it. "I can't go through with what they want me to do. No matter what they promise me if I do."

Hinata lowered her guard, which was a mistake. Another chakra source appeared behind her and she felt a sharp pain in her back. Behind her was a shadow clone of Sakura with an evil grin on her face. The clone probably hid in her blind spot. She looked back at sakura with a look of betrayal as she doubled over in pain. The clone held Hinata's arms behind her. Sakura pulled a kunai from her pouch and charged at Hinata. The blade struck Hinata just below the ribcage and the wound started bleeding profusely. Some of the blood splashed onto the haruno girl and stained her clothes.

Sakura looked at the wounded hyuuga with an emotionless gaze.

Hinata tried to stem the bleeding as she struggled to speak. "D-d-doushite? Wh-why would you b-betray u-us?"

Sakura laughed and shook her head. "I said that I had thought this over and that I wouldn't do this no matter what I was promised."

Sakura leaned closer to Hinata and whispered in her ear in a joyful tune. "What I meant was…I'd do it for free!"

With that sakura grabbed Hinata by the collar of her jacket and through her over the edge. But in the process, she had ripped off the silver pendant that Naruto gave to the hyuuga.

One thought ran through the injured Hyuuga's head. _'Gomen nasai, Naruto-kun.'_

Sakura cleaned her blade before dispelling her clone and putting it away. Sakura looked at the object in her hand and dropped it on the floor then smashing it with her foot. Sakura took out the scroll and opened it. Inside was…

……………………………

(Somewhere near the border of Yuki no Kuni)

Kakashi and the squad following him where nearing their destination. At the rate they were going they would reach the Onsenmachi by nightfall. Neji was at point with tenten behind him. Neji suddenly stopped and gripped his chest. It felt like a part of him was ripped apart. The group stopped to see if the hyuuga prodigy was injured.

"I-it's nothing, It's nothing. Let's hurry and meet up with Sasuke and the others."

The rest of the traveling shinobi just nodded, taking his word for it.

'_Why do I feel like a part of my heart was just torn to pieces? Hinata-imouto-chan, please be safe!'_

……………………………

(At the same time, Onsenmachi)

Naruto was laughing and enjoying himself, but suddenly he felt like someone had squeezed his heart and the feeling was getting worse and worse. He stood up and looked around as if he could find an answer for that feeling.

"Naruto, what's wrong?" Koyuki asked.

The door to sasuke and hikari's room was yanked open and hikari stood with a horrified look on her face. She was having the same feeling. The locked eyes and one thing came to mind.

"HINATA!" They both cried out and they were out the door.

…………………

(With Sakura)

Sakura was staring at the opened scroll. There was a complex seal on it. It was a summoning scroll, with the word person in the center. Sakura invoked the scroll and a poof of smoke appeared.

"Well, well, well, you actually did it. I'm impressed." A familiar voice spoke inside the cloud of smoke.

"Kisame."

Once the smoke cleared, the shark man was visible and smirking.

"You know I didn't think you would have it in you to kill one of your friends, let alone a Hyuuga. You got guts, kid. Why did you pick her?"

Sakura just smiled and spoke with a straight face, "She had something I wanted and there is nothing stopping me now."

Kisame gave a toothy grin in response, "Alright, and now to deal with you two."

Sakura was confused, but before she could ask, two figures jumped from the tree line and stood ready to fight.

Sakura was shocked, "N-naruto, what are you doing here?"

Naruto growled. His eyes were demonic red and his canines elongated, his hands had claws and the killing intent was radiating off him.

Hikari was next to him also ready to fight. Her eyes changed to gold and her canines had elongated slightly. The glare she was giving sakura could have killed the pink haired traitor a hundred times over.

Kisame gripped the hilt to samehada and grinned. "Good, a fight, time to take the Kyuubi and be on our way."

Naruto sniffed the air and smelled blood. He looked at the pink haired girl's clothes and grew angrier causing him to go into his two tailed state. Sakura's clothes were stained with Hinata's blood. With a quick glance between Naruto and hikari, they nodded and charged.

Naruto went after Kisame and hikari went after sakura.

…………………………….

(Hikari and sakura)

Sakura was prepared this time around and blocked hikari's fist, but wasn't ready to be kicked in the face with a lightning fast kick. Sakura was sent flying toward the tree line and into the forest, with Hikari in hot pursuit.

Sakura spun in the air and righted herself before using chakra in her feet to push off a tree trunk and toward the white haired girl. She tried to hit her with a barrage of chakra powered punches and a few kicks. Hikari blocked each one and threw a few of her own, connecting with a loud impact.

Hikari spun to avoid a chakra scalpel and using her heightened speed, appeared behind the traitor and flashed through the hand signs for her jutsu. Energy built up in her hand.

"**Chidori!!!!"**

Using a nearby tree, Hikari pushed off and headed toward sakura. Hikari snarled, thrusting her technique at her opponent.

Sakura twisted her body and narrowly escaped the deadly attack. She skidded on the ground before she stopped and glared at the wolf girl.

"How the hell do you know that technique? That jutsu belongs to…"

She was cut off by an intimidating roar and a second attack by Hikari. She barely had any time to dodge and was clipped on her right side and the lightning coursed through her body causing her to scream.

Hikari quickly dispersed the jutsu and pulled out a scroll while her opponent was immobilized and invoked it, causing a katana to appear. Hikari drew the blade and threw the saya to the ground before charging again. What neither girl noticed was that the tips of hikari's hair were turning black and spreading as a white chakra engulfed her.

Sakura tried desperately to dodge each stroke of the lethal weapon. She couldn't move as well and was cut a few times before she jumped back and with a chakra powered punch into the ground, shattered and raised the unforgiving earth.

Hikari jumped back and dodge each piece of rumble. When the ground stopped shaking and crumbling, Hikari charged again and this time incorporated kicks, punches and her elbows in with her katana.

Sakura was getting dizzy from the blood loss caused by each time Hikari connected. Sakura did the only thing she could think of…she turn and ran deeper into the forest to buy her time.

Hikari roar again and opened another scroll, retrieving another katana. She unsheathed it and held both swords in a reverse grip. She then took to the trees and gave chase.

…………………………………..

(With Naruto and Kisame)

Naruto was charging at kisame with a barrage of punches. Kisame sidestepped all of them then brandished Samehada and tried to cleave Naruto into little pieces. Naruto felt the fox cloak disintegrate then regenerate and attacked kisame again. Kisame blocked a punch from Naruto and Samehada ate the chakra behind it.

Naruto jumped back and made a crossed hand seal. **"Ninppou: Kagebushin no Jutsu!!!"**

He created twenty clones who all charged kisame with kunai and a barrage of shuriken. Kisame parried all the weapons and blocked the attacks. He kicked the Naruto to the right of him and slashed at the others. The Naruto he kicked was sent flying into a tree and didn't disappear. He got up and charged again with an animalistic roar.

"**Rasengan!!!!"**

The clones held kisame down as it connected. After a second, kisame disappeared in a puff of smoke, leaving a log in his place to be turned into wood shavings.

Naruto was kicked into the air and kisame flashed trough his hand signs, then he spit out an oceans worth of water.

_"__**Suiton: Bakusui Shōha no jutsu!!!"**_

A giant wave of water came crashing down on the jinchuuriki and tossed him around. Naruto was struggling to breathe as the water bubbled around him from the heat of the Kyuubi's chakra.

_"__**Suiton: Suikōdan no Jutsu!!!!**_**"**

Kisame raced through the water like it was air and slashed at Naruto. He cut Naruto and left a gash that was bleeding profusely and disrupting the clarity of the water. He kept up the attack leaving Naruto with numerous cuts and gashes.

Naruto was ready to pass out and kisame ended the water jutsu and laughed at the semiconscious jinchuuriki. Then kisame was sent flying forward as…"

…………………………….

(Hikari and Sakura)

Sakura was panting quietly in a tree as she healed her injuries. Her left arm was broken in three places and she had at least five broken ribs. She felt Hikari's presence and looked up.

Hikari was falling toward her at a fast rate. She placed the bottoms of her katana together and began to spin. Chakra coursed through the blades and created a streamline effect. The branches and limbs of the trees were destroyed as she descended.

"**Rōgafūfūken: Hanone Rendan!!!!"**

Sakura jumped out of the way, but Hikari flipped and landed on a branch before pushing off and headed toward sakura with the same attack.

She couldn't dodge and crossed her arms in front of her body taking the full force of the spinning attack. After being knocked back, sakura crashed into the trees and only stopped after she was imbedded in a large oak tree.

Hikari stopped spinning and crossed the blades in front of her in an X. Then she charged even more chakra into her weapons.

Hikari swung her katana toward the pink haired traitor and it hit its target creating an X shaped gash across her chest. Hikari followed up with embedding the tips of her katana into sakura's shoulders.

Sakura cried out in pain as she was pinned to the tree. Hikari stood before her panting. Her breath was visible in the cold air. Her hair was turned completely black and a wild look came into her eyes.

"WHERE IS SHE?!!!" Hikari gripped the haruno's shirt in her fist.

Sakura just chuckled, "Who cares? She was weak and needed to be gotten ri…"

Hikari punched her in the stomach before she could finish and kept hitting her for a few seconds and asked again.

"WHERE…IS…SHE?!!" Hikari snarled.

Sakura spit at her and blood mixed with spit landed on her face. She snarled again and hit the pink haired girl again and again.

But before she could ask the prisoner again, Hikari was knocked to the side.

……………………………………………..

(With Naruto and Kisame)

Kisame stumbled before he regained his footing and glared at the person who kicked him and froze.

Standing around Naruto was Team Gai, Sai and Kakashi while shizune tried to heal Naruto.

Kisame stood and dusted himself off before looking at the shinobi in front of him. "Well, as much as I would like to have fun with you all, it's time for me to go."

With that he disappeared in a puff of smoke.

"Shizune, is Naruto going to be alright?" Kakashi was worried for his student.

Shizune nodded and watched as Naruto got up and looked around.

"WHERE IS HE? WHY'D YOU LET HIM GO?!!!"

Kakashi tried to calm his student, "Naruto, calm down. What's wrong?"

Naruto ran to the pool of blood next to the edge of the cliff. In it he found the smashed pendant he gave Hinata. He looked back at his mentor and tears streamed down his face.

"S-s-sakura was i-i-in league with Akatsuki and I think she may have…"

Naruto fell to his knees as he gripped the smashed pendant in his hands. Everyone was silent out of sympathy for their comrade.

Kakashi felt another chakra source behind them and the turned ready to defend the comrade. They dropped their guard when the saw Hikari limping out of the forest, covered in blood and wounds. She was panting heavily and her vision was fading.

"I-Itachi, he go-got the better of me and took off with sakura. I-I-I couldn't stop them. Gomen Naruto-kun, gomen."

Hikari slumped to the ground and shizune ran over to her checking her vitals.

"We need to get them back to the hotel so I could properly treat their wounds." Shizune immediately took charge and picked up Hikari.

"NO, we need to find Hinata, she's out there and she needs me! I have to find her." Naruto was about to take off, but he stumbled and fell just short of the cliffs edge. His arm hanging off the edge and in his tightly clenched fist was hinata's crushed pendant.

Kakashi picked up his student and nodded to everyone. They all headed toward the hotel where Sasuke and Koyuki where they waiting for them.

…………………………………….

(Unknown)

A little white kitsune sniffed the air and ran, following the scent that it smelled. It reached the scent's location and sniffed around what it found. The kitsune whined and nudged the woman lying in the snow.

* * *

**That's it! So what did you guys think of that? I wrote the fight scenes while listening to Redemption by gackt and One winged Angel from Final Fantasy XII. After this message there are a few notes that I put up. So feel free to read them or don't. It's up to you. Thanks for reading. Please review. Ja' ne!**

**Next time: Reinforcements and Ragnarok!!!**

**Notes:**

**Rōgafūfūken:**** a style that uses rapid melee attacks often used in combination with one or more bladed weapon, also known as the wolf fang fist. A style that combines power and speed with advanced taijutsu techniques.**

**Hanone rendan:**** a jutsu used with the ****Rōgafūfūken. **** Almost resembling the Gatsuuga used by the Inuzuka Clan, it is a high velocity spinning technique accompanied by the use of bladed weapons. The chakra is focused to the very tip and edges of the vortex that is caused and creates a jet stream in its wake.**

_**Suiton: Bakusui Shōha no jutsu:**__** Water style: Exploding water shock wave!**_

_**Suiton: Suikōdan no Jutsu**__**: **__**Water style: water shark bomb!**_


	7. Reinforcements and Ragnarok!

**Hey I'm back! First of the new year. So how was the last chapter? Gomen if this is kind of short. Anyway, you guys ready for the next installment of…**

**Aishiteru Vol.2**

_Previously on Aishiteru Vol.2:_

_(__"NO, we need to find Hinata, she's out there and she needs me! I have to find her." Naruto was about to take off, but he stumbled and fell just short of the cliffs edge. His arm hanging off the edge and in his tightly clenched fist was hinata's crushed pendant._

_Kakashi picked up his student and nodded to everyone. They all headed toward the hotel where Sasuke and Koyuki where they waiting for them._

……………………………………_._

_(Unknown)_

_A little white kitsune sniffed the air and ran, following the scent that it smelled. It reached the scent's location and sniffed what it found. The kitsune whined and nudged the woman lying in the snow.)_

* * *

**Chapter 7: Reinforcements and Ragnarok!**

(DREAM)

_Naruto looked around the barren white tundra that surrounded him. Nothing…nothing but what he had been looking at for what seemed like an eternity. He didn't know what he was looking for, but he knew that he needed it. He felt like a piece of his heart was torn out of him and he hated that feeling._

_Something other than white caught his eye. A deep red shined against the sea of white. He stepped closer and he recognized what stained the ground…it was blood._

"_Whose blood is that? Is-Is it mine?" He asked himself._

_He saw that the puddle of blood had a small trail that hadn't been there before and he followed it. As he walked, the blood became brighter and brighter, meaning the blood was fresher. A shadow fluttered above him and Naruto looked up, it was a bird. A few drops of liquid hit his face causing him to blink. He raised his hand to wipe the liquid of and pulled his hand away to view the substance._

_It was blood. The winged creature fell from the sky and landed in the snow… dead_

_Naruto felt tears fall from his eyes and his hands started to shake. The shaking spread to his whole body and his breathing became quick._

_A strong wind passed by and picked up some of the white snow, twisting it in the air around the dead bird. The bird changed into a human form. Naruto recognized the person that the bird had become. A pool of blood surrounded…_

"_HINATA-CHAN!!" He shouted._

_Naruto ran to Hinata and tried to wake her._

"_Wake up Hinata-chan…wake up."_

_The raven haired girl didn't move or respond, causing the teen to cry harder._

_A loud snarling was heard and Naruto looked behind him. He saw the large kitsune Yokai known as Kyuubi snarling behind him._

"_**Are you just going to stay here and let that Haruno -ama get away? GET UP! Get up before I take over your body and go looking for that girl myself. What you see isn't real, now…WAKE UP!!"**__ The Kyuubi roared sending Naruto flying and out of the dream realm._

* * *

(Reality: Hanjiru Onsenmachi)

Naruto jolted up and regretted it instantly. A sharp throbbing pain coursed through his body and made him clutch his stomach. His breath was ragged and shallow. Then the events from the previous day hit him like a ton of bricks. Naruto looked over to his right and didn't see his lover. Naruto jumped out of bed, ignoring the pain and wooziness, and ran into the common room.

"What happened?" He yelled.

The people in the room consisting of Team Gai, Sai, shizune and Kakashi, along with a bandaged up Hikari, Sasuke and the Yuki no Kuni Daimyo, koyuki. None could meet his eye and the silence was tearing naruto's heart to pieces.

Hikari broke the silence and walked over to the blonde teen, her head down. "Naruto, Gomen nasai, I wasn't able to make sakura talk. We don't know where Hinata is."

Naruto looked to the side and sighed. He grabbed his jacket and ran out of the room, leaving the others speechless.

* * *

(Near Hanjiru Onsenmachi)

Ranmaru and his team reached the location and began to scourer the area for any good ambush locations. Ryuusei attached some seals to the sides of the passage way and on the ground, hiding them in the snow.

Hotaru kept a look out from the top of a tree and started leaving markers that would alert the team to any intruders within the area.

Ranmaru searched along the outside wall of the cliff for any weak points. He heard a noise from the nearby tree line and drew a kunai from his holster. He stalked toward a nearby tree and leaned against it before moving around the tree to face the noise.

He was met with the same white kitsune that he had seen before. It was trying to drag something, but it was much too heavy. The object in question was obscured from his sight by the snow and vegetation that the animal was trying to pull the object through.

Ranmaru put his kunai away and chuckled, "Baka kitsune, what do you have there?"

Ranmaru pushed aside the vegetation and was shocked. The Kitsune was trying to pull one of the shinobi, a raven haired kunoichi, he had seen only a few days prior. He looked back at the animal and then the girl. Ranmaru bent down and checked the girls pulse…it was there, but barely. Ranmaru with a swipe of his hand plucked a leaf from the bush and put it to his lips.

A melodious whistling tune could be heard and alerted the other two warriors, who dropped what they were doing and ran to the location of their leader. They were there in a matter of seconds. They saw their leader kneeling next to something and went closer. They saw what their leader was examining and gasped.

The kitsune was whining and barked to get the warriors attention. They looked at the kitsune, then each other and nodded. Hotaru pulled out a first aid kit and Ryuusei started a fire. Ranmaru stepped aside so Hotaru could start working on the injured girl. The kitsune barked and bit and pulled at the white haired man's pant leg.

Hotaru was gently pulling out the kunai in the young woman's back and stomach. Ryuusei helped by applying pressure so the girl wouldn't lose any remaining blood. Hotaru flashed through some hand signs and her hands glowed green. She moved her hands over hinata's wounds and began to heal the hurt kunoichi. The kitsune continued to bark.

Hinata's face contorted in pain even though she was unconscious.

"I don't understand how this girl is alive. From her injuries, I'd say she was almost crushed from some sort of impact, probably from a high level doton jutsu." Hotaru spoke with amazement.

Ryuusei looked up from the girl and toward the cliff. "What if she wasn't crushed by any jutsu, but from falling from the top of the cliff?"

Hotaru looked up for a moment, and then looked back at the hurt kunoichi. "Then she better thank kami-sama or whoever that she survived. There I'm done, now all I have to do is splint her right arm and left leg. Find me something I can use as a make shift splint."

Ryuusei was about to rummage around for something to use when he heard his commander speak.

"Here, use this for the splint. It's more than sturdy enough and we don't want to disturb any of the surroundings in case the enemy comes through here."

Ranmaru, who had until now been observing his comrades, handed the saya (Sheath) that covered Ragnarok to Hotaru. The kitsune's barking became louder and more urgent.

The blonde haired woman took the saya and after a moment's hesitation, split the deep red saya vertically. She then began to break it into one foot in length pieces. Using the pieces and some gauze from the medical kit, Hotaru made a make shift splint for hinata's arm and leg.

A hawk flew down and landed on a branch just above them. It had a message case on its back with a black string attached to it. It chirped with urgency.

Ranmaru stretched out his arm and the hawk jumped down. Ranmaru opened the case and took out the small scroll inside. After reading it for a moment Ranmaru burnt a stick in the fire and wrote a reply then sent the hawk on its way.

He turned to his teammates, "Sora says they're done with preparations and are waiting on us. Not a good thing to be behind, we are the first blockade after all."

Hotaru stood, "What are we going to do with her? I mean, we can't just leave her here. Should one of us take her to the nearest town?"

"That's a bad idea; don't you agree Ranmaru-sama?" Ryuusei continued to look at the raven haired kunoichi.

Ranmaru thought it over for a second and was about to answer when someone shouted, **"KAMI-SAMA, YOU GUYS JUST WON'T LISTEN FOR TWO FUCKING SECONDS WILL YOU?!!"**

The three warriors jumped at the voice and looked around, but saw no one.

"**DOWN HERE IDIOTS!!!"**

They looked down and only saw the white kitsune.

"**Finally…"** The kitsune spoke and saw the confused looks on their faces**. "Doushita? ****(What's wrong)"**

The normally level headed Ranmaru pointed at the kitsune and took a step back. "D-d-d-d-did that kitsune j-just…talk to us?!"

The white creature just blink, then spoke again. "**Wabiiru, this is just my restricted form."**

The kitsune began to glow with a blue chakra and a bright light momentarily blinded the trio. What appeared next caused the men's jaws to drop.

Instead of a white kitsune there was, standing before them, a beautiful woman. She had ankle length ivory hair and sky blue eyes. She had pale skin, but it only made her look more beautiful. She wore a silk dark purple kimono that stopped mid thigh and had a grey sash keeping it close, though she kept it open enough so you could see a decent amount of cleavage. The thing that shocked the warriors most were the two swishing ivory colored tails behind her. She was about the same height as Hotaru. Her skin and hair contrasted against the dark colors she wore and only served to amplify her beauty.

She spoke again in a melodious tone. **"Is this better?" **She received a nod from stunned warriors.

"**Good, now as I was saying, that girl right there…"** She pointed to the unconscious Hinata. **"…Is my charge. I was put in charge of protecting her by my master, Gouka. Just because you've healed the surface of the injuries Hinata-sama has doesn't mean she's out of danger."**

Hotaru knelt back down next to Hinata and surrounded her hands in a healing chakra. She gasped as her hands moved up and down the hyuuga's body.

"S-she's right." Hotaru gasped. "On the surface, the kunai wounds weren't that deep, but some one applied chakra to it and shattered her ribcage. This could have killed her if it had hit closer to her heart."

Hotaru deactivated her jutsu. "I can't heal it all. She'll most likely die in an hour or two hours at most. On top of it all, I found scarring on the heart. This girl just can't catch a break."

As if to stress her point the unconscious Hyuuga coughed up blood.

"**I can heal her, but it will take some time. I'll also request some thing from each of you. Nothing big, just a small token."**

Ryuusei glared at the kitsune Youkai. "Why do you need something from us? Can't you just heal her and be done with it?"

"**Normally yes, but what I am attempting to do is going to cost me a hell of a lot. So, will you agree?"**

The three nodded. Ranmaru asked, "What is your name?"

The Youkai sigh, **"I am known by many names. My true name is Fuyuzora, but I wish to be called the name Hinata-sama has given my…Kokoa. Now if you please, I request your opal moon,"** She pointed to Ranmaru."**The gold band on your arm…"** She pointed to Ryuusei. **"…and from you, your sword." **She pointed to Hotaru.

Ranmaru pulled the choker off of his neck and handed it to kokoa. Next Ryuusei slipped the gold band from his left arm and also handed it to kokoa. Hotaru hesitated before taking her katana off her back and looked away as kokoa took the weapon.

Kokoa smiled in thanks and with a wave of her free hand the items disappeared. She then knelt next to the dying Hyuuga and placed her hands above the girls' heart. Both hinata's and kokoa's bodies glowed with a bright blue chakra that began to shift every so often from light blue to lavender. Sweat trickled down the Kitsunes' face and Hinata clawed the ground in pain with her uninjured hand. The observers split there attention between watching the two before them and watching out for any enemies that wonder into the area out of curiosity at the energy spike.

* * *

(With kakashi and the others)

Everything had gone quiet after Naruto had run out of the room and god knows where. But kakashi knew that there were other matters that needed to be addressed.

"Neji, I need you and Team Gai to try and evacuate as many of the civilians as you can before we engage the enemy. Sai, I need you to find Naruto and bring him back here."

Team Gai and Sai nodded in understanding and left in a swirl of leaves to carry out their orders. Leaving the remaining shinobi to hear what kakashi had to say.

"The Godaime has sent us here as reinforcements against the upcoming threat that is heading this way. We have reports that a large number of Otō-nin is heading north, possibly to this location or somewhere else up north. We need to be prepared to intercept them before the reach this town. Hikari, how are you feeling? Are you up to fighting standards?"

Hikari stood up from the couch and stumbled a little before she stood straight. She untied the sling holding her injured arm and ripped off the bandages around her forehead and off her face.

She looked kakashi in his eye and said, "When do we deploy?"

Kakashi ruffled his nieces' hair. Their attention turned to the door as Sai returned with Naruto in tow.

"Naruto, welcome back. Are you able to fight?" Kakashi saw determination in the young mans' eye's.

"Try and stop me, kakashi-sensei."

"Alright, when Team Gai returns, we'll plan out the best countermeasure to deal with the Otō-nin. For now, we should treat your wounds a little more."

"Hai." Everyone answered.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------**That's it…sorry if it's a little short. I wanted to get this done before school starts again. Any way, I'm a little stuck at this point. Any suggestions to move this story along would be taken into consideration and VERY much appreciated.**

**Anyway, can any of you guess who Gouka is? Who ever guesses, wins a life time supply of cookies!!! Kidding…but try to guess. Will Sasuke have to face enemies of old? Is Hinata going to live? What price must Kokoa have to pay to save her?**

**Next time:**** Defeating Old Foes and Finding New Allies!**

**Notes:**

**Gouka: Hellfire**

**Wabiiru: to apologize sincerely.**

**Fuyuzora: Winter wind**


	8. Defeating Old Foes and Finding New Allie

**After finding some inspiration courteous of "o Mischief Managed" and the story "A Mission." Thanks for helping me out of my writer's block. Now thanks to that story I am ready to begin again. Now for Chapter 8 of…**

* * *

**Aishiteru Vol. 2**

_(Previously on Aishiteru Vol.2_

"_The Godaime has sent us here as reinforcements against the upcoming threat that is heading this way. We have reports that a large number of Otō-nin is heading north, possibly to this location or somewhere else up north. We need to be prepared to intercept them before the reach this town. Hikari, how are you feeling? Are you up to fighting standards?"_

_Hikari stood up from the couch and stumbled a little before she stood straight. She untied the sling holding her injured arm and ripped off the bandages around her forehead and off her face. _

_She looked kakashi in his eye and said, "When do we deploy?"_

_Kakashi ruffled his nieces' hair. Their attention turned to the door as Sai returned with Naruto in tow._

"_Naruto, welcome back. Are you able to fight?" Kakashi saw determination in the young mans' eye's._

"_Try and stop me, kakashi-sensei.")_

* * *

**Chapter 8: Defeating Old Foes and Finding New Allies!**

(An hour before)

Naruto had run out of the room and kept running. He let his feet, which were bare because in his haste he forgot his shoes, carry him. He only stopped running when he tripped and fell in the snow. He tried to get up, using a nearby tree as leverage, but then just slid back down to the snow and leaned his back against the trunk.

His eyes were closed and his breathing ragged. He just sat there as tears began to roll down his face.

"I couldn't protect Hinata-chan. How can I become Rokudaime if I can't even protect the one I love? The villagers were right; I don't have what it takes to become Hokage."

A voice spoke to him, **"Hai, you are pathetic. You wanted to become Hokage, but what good would a weakling like you be able to do if any small threat came your way."**

Naruto was suddenly pulled into his mindscape.

"_Onegai, just leave me alone. I don't need you to tell me what I already know."_

"**You know up until now I've probably been harsher on you than any one else. But I see that you have the potential to become the greatest Hokage. Right now, all you feel you can do is cry. Instead of crying, get up and look for your mate. You have two legs get up and use them."**

Naruto knew what his prisoner was saying was right, but his sorrow and anger made him find what the immortal kitsune said offensive.

"_Why do you care what I do? It's your fault for the hate filled stares that I get. You're nothing but a…"_ Naruto's voice faltered as he realized what he was saying to someone trying to help him._ "Go-gomen ne, I shouldn't have said that."_

The age old kitsune understood and moved one of his tails through the gate and placed it on the young man's shoulder.** "It's okay kit. You're just angry. Don't worry about it. Now, when you return to your friends, return with a renewed determination to find your mate."**

Naruto held the tail until he disappeared from his mindscape and returned to the real world.

"Arigatou, Kyuubi." He whispered as he wiped away the tears.

"Naruto." Sai appeared and knelt next to the blonde. "Daijoubu?"

"Hai."

Sai nodded. "Kakashi ordered me to bring you back. Everyone is waiting."

"Ok, let's head back."

* * *

(Present time/ elsewhere)

"Where…Where am I? Am I dead? No, I'm not dead, but what…what is this feeling?"

Pale lavender eyes fluttered open and looked around. There was a group around her that was talking, but she couldn't really hear what they were saying. Then a woman with two ivory colored tails knelt next to her.

"**Hinata-Onee-ue…can…you...hear me?"** The woman said, her voice becoming clearer.

Hinata couldn't respond and simply fell back to sleep.

* * *

"**She's gone back to sleep. She's safe and no longer in danger. I need you to watch over her until she is returned to my master."** The ivory haired woman leaned against the trunk of a tree next to Hinata and looked to the sky.

"Why can't you do it? After all, she's your charge. Why should we get involved?" Ryuusei glared at the tired kitsune Yokai.

"Ryuusei, Hotaru, return to your post and keep an eye out for the enemy. I'll stay here and watch over them until Kokoa-sama is rested." Ranmaru sat down in front of the ivory haired woman and faced toward her.

Ryuusei was about to retort but, Hotaru placed a hand on his shoulder and shook her head. She turned and left back to their ambush point. Ryuusei hesitated for a brief moment before nodding and following.

A moment of silence passed before ramnaru spoke.

"You're dying."

Kokoa laughed**, "And you're very straightforward."**

"This is no laughing matter. Kitsune are cunning, but loyal to a fault. There is no way that you would give up your charge unless it was for a good reason."

Kokoa stopped laughing and became solemn. The silence permeated the air once more.

With a sigh, kokoa spoke again in an exhausted voice**. "From the moment I met her, Hinata-Onee-ue, has been nothing but kind to me. She didn't just see a wild animal, it was like she could see the true me. Granted, I only met her a few days ago, but she was more kind to me than any one I have ever known."**

Ranamru looked at the dying kitsune. "What jutsu did you use? It wasn't a normal Ijutsu (Healing jutsu), was it?"

A laugh escaped the woman's lips**, "You catch on quick, don't you? As a matter of fact, it wasn't a Ijustu, but a Isoujutsu **(Transfer jutsu)**."**

"What's an Isoujutsu?" Ranmanru asked.

"**It's a jutsu that allows you to transfer your chakra to another person and not only heal them, but gives them more strength, chakra reserves or any and all abilities that you, the user, had. Along with…"**

"…Your life force." Ranmaru cut in. Kokoa nodded.

Silence fell once again as Kokoa's eyes drifted close and her breath slowly stopped. A smile graced her face until the very end. The sun peeked through the leaves on the trees, to illuminate her pale skin. Her body began to fade until she was no more.

"I will see your charge home. I swear it on my life and my bloodline."

Then serene aura was disturbed by an explosion nearby. The trap was sprung and the time to act had come.

* * *

(Naruto and the gang)

An explosion was heard and every stormed out of the hotel to its source. But before they could reach the passage they had traveled through. They were ambushed from behind by fifty or so Ōto-nin. Kakashi was quick to react.

"Team Gai, you deal with them and keep them away from the village. We'll handle the ones trying to head this way at the entrance."

Gai nodded to his rival. "Alright my eternal rival, I will protect this village and defeat more of the enemy than you." Gai stood in his good guy pose with his teeth sparkling, but kakashi and his team had already left. "You win this time my eternal rival. TEAM GAI, DON'T LET ANY OF THEM PASS OR ITS 500 LAPS AROUND THE VILLAGE ON TWO FINGERS!!!!"

* * *

"Kakashi-sensei, are you sure Bushy-Brow and the rest can handle all those guys?" Naruto didn't look back as the rest of the team travelled to where the source of the explosion had occurred.

"Gai is a big boy and any of them can handle that small number." Kakashi reassured his student. _'But why do I get the feeling that I'm going to regret coming here?'_

* * *

(With Ryuusei and Hotaru)

"KUSO!!! How did they know about the bombs?" Hotaru was fending of a wave of Ōto-nin that was trying to get past them.

"I think one of them is a sensor. We need to be careful." Ryuusei slashed the throats of five enemies as he worked his way back to Hotaru. "Where the hell is Ranmaru? He should be here instead of watching those two women."

"He can't leave. Kokoa-sama is dead." Hotaru let out a battle cry as she dodged an ōto-nin's jutsu and stabbed him through the heart with a kunai.

Ryuusei faltered before letting out a string of curses that would make a sailor turn pink. "THIS. IS. WHY. I. !!!!"

Hotaru laughed even as she killed another squad of Ōto-nin. "So I was right. You are into men!"

Ryuusei sped up his attacks as he almost was hit by a ōtojutsu (Sound jutsu). "Hotaru if we live I'm going to kill you myself!"

The two continued to defend the entrance to the village, waiting for either reinforcements from their leader or the Konoha shinobi already in the village. A strong surge of chakra emanated from a small distance away coming from the back of attack shinobi. The ōto-nin stopped attacking for a moment. A large amount of killing intent was felt and the enemy shinobi paled. It wasn't from an ally to the Celestial Beings or the Konoha Shinobi, but what ever it was, it was heading their way and it wasn't going to pick sides.

* * *

**That's it! I actually finished this chapter the same day I started it. Its all thanks to you, o Mischief Managed. You provided me the inspiration. Thank you again.**

**So, what's heading the Celestial Beings way? Will it be an asset to them or a threat? Why does kakashi have a bad feeling? Tune in next time for…**

**Chapter 9: Defeating Old Foes and Finding New Allies! (Part 2)**

**Ja ne!!!**


	9. Defeating Old Foes2

**Hey I'm back! So how did everyone like the last chapter? I hope everyone liked it or at least was happy with it. So I think I'm out of my rut and I'll be able to post when I can. Quick thing I'm changing Celestial Being to Tenjin. It's the same thing just in Japanese and easier to spell. Also, there will be some references to Devil May Cry 3 and 4. So on to the next chapter of…**

* * *

**Aishiteru Vol.2**

_(Previously on Ashiteru Vol.2_

_Ryuusei faltered before letting out a string of curses that would make a sailor turn pink. "THIS. IS. WHY. I. HATE. WOMEN!!!!"_

_Hotaru laughed even as she killed another squad of Ōto-nin. "So I was right. You are into men!"_

_Ryuusei sped up his attacks as he almost was hit by a ōtojutsu (Sound jutsu). "Hotaru if we live I'm going to kill you myself!"_

_The two continued to defend the entrance to the village, waiting for either reinforcements from their leader or the Konoha shinobi already in the village. A strong surge of chakra emanated from a small distance away coming from the back of attack shinobi. The ōto-nin stopped attacking for a moment. A large amount of killing intent was felt and the enemy shinobi paled. It wasn't from an ally to the Celestial Beings or the Konoha Shinobi, but what ever it was, it was heading their way and it wasn't going to pick sides.)_

* * *

**Chapter 9: Defeating Old Foes and Finding New Allies! (Part 2)**

Kakashi and his team made it to the narrow passage way that led out of the village. Kakashi caught scent of three unfamiliar people just short of the passage way and the scent of gunpowder. He looked back at his team and signaled to them that there were two unfamiliar scents and to take caution.

When they reached they found two people who Hikari, Naruto, and Sasuke recognized immediately. They landed in front of the three who gripped their weapons before seeing Naruto, Hikari, and Sasuke.

"Oi, aren't you…you?" Naruto asked before he scratched his head.

Sora sensed the blonde's distress. "Sora…"She pointed to herself. "…Seiji, my Onii-san…" She pointed to her brother and then at Kazuma. "…Kazuma and we make one half of Tenjin (Celestial Being)."

"Right, right. What are you guys doing here? Where are your other friends?" Naruto walked up to them.

Kazuma looked down at the small male. "Ranmaru-Taichō, is on the other side of this passage way. We set up an ambush at the entrance. We were trying to suppress the invading force that was heading this way, but…"

Kakashi read the tall man's body language. "There was a problem?"

They nodded. "It seems there was a detonation right before the forces entered the passage." Answered a calm Sora.

Seiji looked back into the passage with anxiousness. He tensed at the sound of fighting that was occurring only a short distance away.

It was then they felt a large amount of killing intent. Seiji started shaking. Team kakashi thought he was afraid, but all thoughts that he was afraid vanished as they heard him quietly laugh until it turned into a full blown hysterical laugh.

"This is PERFECT!!" He paused to laugh. "It's finally time to show HIM what I can do. Let's go!"

But before Seiji could run toward the sounds of battle, Kazuma grabbed his shoulder.

"Calm yourself, Seiji. Our orders are to stay here. You know that, as well as I do." The brown haired man didn't look at the excited teen.

The blue haired teen didn't stop shaking, but his slumped shoulders in defeat. They would wait until they were given an order.

* * *

(Back with Hotaru and Ryuusei)

"Chikuso(Shit), were being overwhelmed here! Where the hell is Ranmaru?" Ryuusei was thrown back as he was hit by **Zankuuha** sending him into the cliff wall. He pulled himself free and threw his kunai at two charging ōto-nin, landing in their foreheads killing them instantly.

Ryuusei drew his combat knives and applied his chakra into them. The blade's edge ignited with a green flame that extended the length of the blades to two feet. Holding his blades in a reverse grip, he charged and attacked the mass of shinobi.

Hotaru was fairing no better and resorted to jumping back as she pulled out a scroll from her pouch. Opening it with a flick of her hand, and biting her thumb to draw blood, Hotaru invoked the scroll and brought out a new set of weapons.

They were black gauntlets with a set of greaves to fit her feet. The gauntlets had razor sharp claws and had two lines of golden chakra running across the side**. (Beowulf from Devil may cry 3)** As the gauntlets fell through the air after being summoned, Hotaru raised her hands and the hand set fell perfectly on to her hands. Back flipping, the greaves did the same. Her weight shifted to the balls of her feet and she wasn't hindered by it.

Pouring some of her chakra into the weapons caused the gauntlets to glow with golden chakra. She moved with greater sped, making her look like a golden blur, and ripped her way through the mass of enemies.

"WE NEED TO RETREAT!! HEAD TOWARD TEAM TWO! I'M GOING TO SEAL THE WAY IN!!" Hotaru moved to the passage and was quickly followed by Ryuusei, who cut down five more enemies.

Hotaru waited until her comrade had run a safe distance before she threw a dozen kunai with explosive seals attached. The explosion caused the walls of the passage way to collapse as Ryuusei and Hotaru made their retreat.

* * *

(With team Kakashi)

The sound of a second explosion was heard, followed by the appearance of two people. The two new comers called out to small group of people as the cliffs collapsed behind them.

"Hotaru-sama, Ryuusei-kun what happened to Ranmaru-sensei?" Sora met her fellow Tenjin as they reached the group, safe from the collapsing earth.

"BAKA RANMARU-_DONO_…" Ryuusei spoke with sarcasm clearly lacing his voice. "…DECIEDED THAT INSTEAD OF HELPING US, HE WAS GOING TO WATCH OVER SOME DARK HAIRED CHICK!!!"

Hotaru elbowed Ryuusei in the face, sending him backwards into the snow, grumbling something about baka women.

"Ranmaru-sama had to deal with another matter." Hotaru noticed kakashi. "Kakashi-senpai, we meet again. What's it been ten years?"

Kakashi looked confused until his eye widened in realization. "Are you the same feisty youngster I met in Uzu no Kuni? Where are Toboe-san and Ran-chan?"

"He won't like that you still call him that." Hotaru hugged the slightly taller Kakashi and looked around. When her eyes landed on Hikari, she gasped. She looked away quickly before the white haired girl noticed. "Kakashi-senpai is that who I think it is?" She motioned with her head in Hikari's direction.

Kakashi noticed this and sighed. "Hai. So where is he?"

A loud noise stopped her from answering. The enemy force was steadily making their way through the rubble.

"I'll tell you later. Tenjin, back into positions, we need to be ready incase Ranmaru is unable to arrive."

"Hai, fukutaichō!!" The other members of Tenjin created a blockade and drew their respective weapons.

Kazuma held his hammer in both his hands, ready for any trouble. He added chakra to it and the blue chakra formed a large spike on both ends of the hammer. Gripping the handle, Kazuma stood in a wide stance, prepared to swing his weapon.

Sora unhooked the Naginata from her back and spun it gracefully in her hands before settling into a spear stance. Her body facing the right and her feet in a horse stance with the foremost blade pointed on an angle. She applied chakra to her weapons and a razor sharp wind covered the blades.

Seiji drew both his blades and continued to tremble with excitement, anticipating the upcoming battle. On the flat of the two blades were the symbols for water in his left hand and wind in his right. He stood with the wind sword in a reverse grip and his body in the same stance as his sister with the water blade at chest level and wind blade behind him.

Hotaru assumed a basic taijutsu stance with her body to the facing the right, her right hand coiled back and her left hand leading in front of her body. Her right foot back and supporting her weight with her left foot leading, pointed forward.

Ryuusei assumed the same stance as the blonde female, but with his chakra laced combat knives in a reverse grip.

They were preparing for intense combat.

Team Kakashi followed their example and took position just behind them. Naruto created twenty **Kage Bushin** to back him and the others up.

They were ready.

* * *

(With Ranmaru)

Ranmaru had heard the second explosion and was already fending off the enemy with quick, calculated stokes of his katana. Adding in some taijutsu only added to the devastation that Ranmaru was dealing to the number of enemy shinobi. No matter what the enemy attacked with, it was deflected or evaded.

He jumped back and landed in front of the unconscious Hyuuga. His blade angled so it leaned to the right, and held in both hands, his stance solid.

During the battle Ranmaru had activated his family's Kekkei Genkai.

A white chakra surrounded him and his hair had changed from pure white to jet black and instead of the pushed back style he kept it in, it was spiky and wild. His eyes which had once had one purple iris, left, and one gold, right, were now gold. His canines had elongated to an inch in length and he had sharp claws.

The, now, black haired warrior smirked as the enemy hesitated and cringed in fear at his appearance.

"HE'S A DEMON!! RETREAT! FALL BACK TO THE MAIN FORCES!" One of the oto-nin cried out and his friends followed.

Ranmaru sighed before looking down at the unconscious Hyuuga and nodded. He slit his thumb and made the necessary seals. He slammed his palm onto the ground and shouted,

"**Kuchiyose no Jutsu: Ookami Buzoku!!" **(Wolf Clan)

A cloud of smoke appeared and snarling could be heard from within. When the smoke dispersed there were three horse sized Ookami standing there. They each were different colors, black, grey, and white, and had armor, all except for one. The Black and grey were male and the white was female.

The black Ookami had a gold crescent moon on his forehead and red eyes. It wore no armor.

The grey Ookami had a blue diamond on its chest and wore dark blue armor on his legs, back and head with green eyes.

The last Ookami was pure white and had blue eyes. The armor it wore covered its chest, shoulders, and front legs. It had a red Ouroboros tattoo on its back left leg.

"Kurogane…" Ranmaru addressed the black Ookami. "…Celestin…" He addressed the grey Ookami. "…and Lind, nice to see you all again, I humbly request your assistant."

The Ookami listened intently.

"Kurogane, Celestin, I need you two to clear the way. Lind, I need you to carry this young woman. She won't be waking up any time soon."

The Ookami named Lind crouched down. Ranmaru picked Hinata up and placed her gently onto the Ookami's back and untied his sash. He used the cloth to secure Hinata to the summons' back and it stood up. With a nod from their master, the four set off toward the cliff walls and once reaching them, broke off, leaving Lind and Ranmaru jumping to places that were wide enough, to make their ascent faster.

Kurogane and Celestin tore into the mass of shinobi and attacked. They tore and ripped the enemy to pieces. The screams of the dying ninja could be heard almost all the way to the top of the cliff.

* * *

As Ranmaru and Lind reached the top of the cliff, Ranmaru redrew his katana and slaughtered the few ōto-nin that had climbed over the destruction of the passage way before running to the entrance of the village, where his team and, unbeknownst to him, Team Kakashi. When he reached the edge he dived over the edge followed by Lind. About half way down, Ranmaru tied wire to his katana's hilt and stuck the blade into the rock of the cliff. He held onto the wire as he descended at a reduced, but still quick speed.

* * *

(Team Kakashi and Tenjin)

Screams could be heard from beyond the rumble as well as snarls and the sound of flesh being torn and shredded.

The sound made the Konoha shinobi cringe at the thought of what lay beyond the earth and snow trapping the invaders on the other side.

Kakashi could smell all the blood drifting from the other side. He also sensed another chakra above them. He was about to warn the others when the person landed right in front of them.

Hotaru immediately recognized him and his family's Kekkei Genkai. A white chakra surrounding him, jet black hair that was spiky and wild, his eyes which had once had one purple iris, left, and one gold, right, were now gold. His canines had elongated to an inch in length and he had sharp claws.

"Ranmaru-kun, welcome back, where is the girl?" Hotaru looked around for the Hyuuga girl.

To answer her question, a horse sized white Ookami with a red Ouroboros tattoo on its back left leg, wearing armor on its chest, shoulders and front legs. On its back was the missing Hinata, who was still unconscious.

"Hinata-chan!!" Naruto ran toward the Ookami only to have it snarl and snap at him before he could get near his lover.

Ranmaru walked over to the Ookami and petted its head. "It's alright, Lind. They're the ones she was traveling with. They're her friends."

"**I don't trust this one. He smells like Kitsune."** The Ookami snarl at the blonde again.

"It's alright." Ranmaru turned to the blonde. "Where are your lodgings? I will have Hinata-sama taken there if that's what you wish."

Naruto was about to demand he be given Hinata, when Kakashi stepped up.

"Koyuki is in the hotel at the very end of this village. It's the one on the right I'm sure you could find her. She is really stubborn. She wouldn't be evacuated along with the villagers so it's the best place."

"Oi, Oi, Kakashi-teme, what are you doing here?" Ranmaru grinned at the sight of Kakashi. "What's it been, ten years?"

"Batousei, Ranmaru, it's been a while." Kakashi smiled underneath his mask.

"I'm no longer a Batousei. I'm a Kururugi now."

Kakashi nodded. He would talk later. "Sai, show our friend to the hotel and guard the two of them with your life."

Sai nodded and took off followed by the Ookami.

Everyone stood back on guard when a new source of chakra approached.

The two Ookami summonses that Ranmaru had sent to eliminate most of the threat were flying over the rubble and landed in the snow unconscious before disappearing in two puffs of smoke.

Ranmaru sighed and pulled on the wire he had used to slow his descent. His katana which he had drove into the cliff side came down and was swiftly caught.

"Ryuusei why don't you show our new allies what a demon you are?"

Ryuusei nodded in understanding and started signing with lightning speed. He ended with the hand sign for Tora. He closed his eyes and concentrated his chakra. When he opened his eyes again, his crystal clear green eyes had become dark and his pupil had become slits.

Ranmaru looked at each member of the teams at his disposal. His eyes met that of Hikari and his eyes widened. He turned to Kakashi.

"We're going to have a long talk if we live." He harshly whispered.

"Whatever you say…Ran-chan." Kakashi mocked the glaring black haired man.

Ranmaru was about to retort when the barrier preventing the Ōto-nin from making their way to the village, was destroyed.

From the rubble came a number of shinobi and one monstrous shinobi with weird deformations. His entire body was red and he transformed his arms into axes. He had a psychotic look in his eyes and he charged with out a moment's hesitation. He struck Sasuke and knocked him away from the group.

"**I'm going to enjoy tearing you apart piece by blood soaked piece!"** The demonic man kept up his attack leading Sasuke farther and farther away.

"Damn you, Juugo! We're supposed to take him back alive." A red haired woman ran in their direction following the two.

"Kazuma, Hotaru, provide assistance! Everyone else, show no mercy!" Ranmaru charged first, quickly followed by his teammates.

Team Kakashi followed close behind and the battle began.

* * *

**That's it for now! I need to reevaluate the fight scene I had planned out. So hope you guys enjoyed this chapter!**

**Give me a message if you have any ideas on how to improve my stories.**

**Ja Ne!**

**Next time: The Past and The Present Collide!**


	10. The Past and the Present Collide!

**Sup…so how was the last chapter? I HAVE REACHED THE TENTH CHAPTER! YEAH! I hope none of you are pissed that I'm putting off the Naruhina reunion. But I need a fight scene for this chapter and a romantic scene just wouldn't fit into the battle so…yeah. Sorry for taking so long, but senior year has made me very busy and my internet went done, so I have to use my friends. Anyway onto the next chapter of…**

**Aishiteru Vol. 2**

_(Previously)_

_From the rubble came a number of shinobi and one monstrous shinobi with weird deformations. His entire body was red and he transformed his arms into axes. He had a psychotic look in his eyes and he charged with out a moment's hesitation. He struck Sasuke and knocked him away from the group._

"_**I'm going to enjoy tearing you apart piece by blood soaked piece!"**__ The demonic man kept up his attack leading Sasuke further and further away._

"_Damn you, Juugo! We're supposed to take him back alive." A red haired woman ran in their direction following the two._

"_Kazuma, Hotaru, provide assistance! Everyone else, show no mercy!" Ranmaru charged first, quickly followed by his teammates._

_Team Kakashi followed close behind and the battle began._

**Chapter 10: The Past and The Present Collide!**

(Juugo vs. Sasuke)

Sasuke flew through the trees, literally, and was quickly followed by the demonic Juugo. Sasuke placed his on the ground and skidded to a stop. He looked up in time to see the monstrous man disappear in a **shunshin** and reappear only a foot away from him and receive a punch to the face.

The strength in the demonic man's fist was the equivalent of ten of Tsunade's chakra enhanced punches. Sasuke did a couple of back flips and landed a good distance away.

Sasuke groaned. "Not you two again! What are you two doing here?"

The red haired woman placed her hand on her hip. "Sasuke-kun, we came to bring you back to us. Orochimaru-sama will over look your traitorous behavior and give you the power you crave to defeat your brother, Itachi. Onegai Sasuke-kun…" The red haired woman stressed each syllable in the uchiha's name. "Return to me and we can rebuild your clan…together."

Sasuke paled at the miniscule thought. The urge to hurl was very great, but he held it down.

"Over my dead body!" Sasuke snarled and drew his katana.

Juugo laughed maniacally. **"NOT DEAD…BUT CLOSE ENOUGH!"**

The crazed man charged at Sasuke with an astounding speed. Juugo formed claws with his steel like skin and swung at the young Uchiha. Sasuke jumped back using a series of back flips and blocked an oncoming punch from Juugo with his katana. The crazed man over powered the raven-haired shinobi and sent him flying into a tree, where he collapsed on the ground with a thud. Juugo charged before Sasuke could stand and swung at him again, only this time he landed a direct hit and crushed Sasuke's head into the ground. Blood oozed from the small crater surrounding Sasuke's head.

"JUUGO, WHAT HAVE YOU DONE?" Karin cried out and began to rush over to where the deceased Uchiha now lay.

Juugo returned to his original human form and his entire body shook with fear. But not with the fear that he had just killed someone, but with the fear of what his master might do to him when he found out that Sasuke was dead and his body useless.

"K-k-k-Karin, I-I-I-I-I didn't mean to. I-I-it just happened." Tears fell from his eyes.

Suddenly a blade was protruding from juugo's stomach. Behind Juugo was Sasuke with blood running down his face and left arm.

Juugo looked back. "H-h-how did…"

Sasuke's Sharingan was blazing in his eyes with a windmill design, the Mangekyou Sharingan.

Juugo slumped forward and Sasuke pulled his sword out of the dead man. Now all that was left the red haired banshee named Karin.

Sasuke smirked. "And how were you going to make me come back? I was able to defeat Juugo, don't you think I can defeat you just as easily."

Karin backed away in fear before she backed into something. She looked back and realized it wasn't a tree, but Sasuke. The Sasuke in front of her was no where to be found.

But before Sasuke could do anything, a large amount of pain washed over him and hurled him backwards. He skidded on the ground before coming to a stop. He looked up and saw a man with white hair and blue eyes and shark like teeth wielding a sword that Sasuke remembered well, Kubikiri Houcho.

"Hōzuki, Suigetsu, why am I not surprised you're here." Sasuke stood up and wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth.

"Silence, teme. I'm here because I want to test my skills against you before I try and go up against Kisame-sempai for samehada. So don't act all uppity about it."

"Hmmpf. Two against one? You would have a better chance against Naruto than you would against me." Sasuke took his stance and smirked.

"I think you mean three, Sasuke-kun." Karin pushed her glasses up and smiled sweetly.

Before Sasuke had a chance to question the meaning of karin's words, Suigetsu charged swinging his cleaver like sword. As he dodged or blocked suigetsu's strikes, Sasuke couldn't help feeling like the battle was going too smoothly. His suspicions were confirmed when a large red fist landed a solid blow to his face and a large gash appeared across his chest. As Sasuke flew across the ground, he saw the man that he had killed was standing and charging at him followed by the water user.

Sasuke flashed through a dozen hand signs and flipped over onto his feet.

"**Raiton: Chidori Senbon!"**

Sasuke creates a chidori in his hand and instead of just surrounding his hand, it forms thousands of senbon and with a swing of his hand, sends these electric needles toward his former allies.

Juugo morphed his hands into large shields and blocked the incoming attack. Suigetsu moved passed the monstrous man after the attack was blocked and aimed for Sasuke's head.

A mere second before the blade met Sasuke's skull, it was blocked by a hand cover by a gauntlet. The blade didn't budge as Suigetsu tried to pull the huge blade free.

Sasuke panted and took a deep breath. "Tsukishiro-san, what are you doing here?"

A loud primal roar was heard as Juugo came within a foot from Sasuke before being thrown back to a safe distance by a swing from a large hammer. The hammer hit Juugo in the stomach and knocked the wind from his lungs.

Kazuma stood in front of the Uchiha to guard him while he recovered for a short period of time.

Hotaru glanced at the Uchiha before placing her free hand on the cleaver like sword and lifting the rouge-nin off the ground. Digging her heel into the ground Hotaru spun around and smashed the swordsman into three trees before Suigetsu let go of Kubikiri Houcho. Hotaru tossed the sword into a distant tree top were it embedded itself.

"Sasuke-san, you stay back and watch that red haired banshee, I'll take care of the white haired shark guy. Kazuma, you take care of the insane freak over there." Hotaru stalked toward her target and the others squared off against theirs.

(Team Kakashi and Tenjin)

Sensing that there was only so many that the younger shinobi could handle Kakashi began signing at a lightning quick speed.

He called out his jutsu, **"Doton:****Retsudotensho!"**

**He slammed his hand to the ground and created a shockwave that ripped the ground apart, across the whole battlefield, sending enemies that weren't smart enough to dodge flying or buried them 10 feet under the rubble. All the Konoha shinobi evaded the attack and began their assault on those that remained. They each separated into two man divisions by massive walls created by the upturned earth.**

**(Hikari and Ranmaru)**

Hikari looked around keeping up her guard. Ranmaru stood beside her and glanced at the white haired kunoichi.

"Are you any good with those swords you have?" He asked as Hikari eyed him with suspicion.

"Yeah, what of it?"

Ranmaru smirked, "Follow my lead and stay on my tail. Do so and you will survive."

"I can handle myself thank you." Hikari readied her swords into a reverse grip and crouched, her swords in front of her.

"How much control do you have over the Rōgafūfūken? Can you handle the advance steps?"

The White haired Kunoichi glared at the Tenjin leader. "How do you know the style that…?"

"There's no time for explanations. I'll lead, you follow, alright?" Ranmaru summoned another katana and extended his index and middle finger on his left hand.

He tapped the center of Hikari's forehead and immediately something happened. Hikari now had a white aura surrounding her, her eyes were golden and her hair jet black, she had inch canines and her nails extended into razor sharp claws.

"How did you…?"

Ranmaru looked toward the enemies and took an exact replica of the stance that Hikari was standing in. "Any question you have will have to wait. For now, calm your mind and listen to the spirit inside you and let them guide your blade."

Hikari sweat dropped but closed her eyes and concentrated. She let go of her thoughts and felt her chakra rise but remain calm. There was a distant noise that she could barely hear in the far corners of her mind. It grew loud enough for her to distinguish what it was. It sounded like…a thousand wolves howling in harmony. It was a melodious sound.

Hikari opened her eyes. A collected calmness had taken over and she stood ready to take on the enemy.

"Good." Ranmaru stated. "Now…tear them to SHREDS!"

With a loud roar they charged ahead, blades glinting in the sunlight.

They jumped high into the air and twisted their bodies. As they began their ascent they both cried out…

"**Rōgafūfūken: Hanone Rendan!"**

In perfect synchronization, the two warriors connected their blades and spun at a high velocity, creating two stream lines of chakra. Heading straight into the heart of the enemies numbers, the two whirlwinds of destruction crashed into the ground, killing numerous enemies and creating a large crater. Through the smoke caused by the crash, Hikari and Ranmaru emerged and began tearing through the enemy.

Their movements were like a well-coordinated dance of blades that were seemingly like black blurs surrounded by a pure white aura.

The enemies' jutsu bounced off them as one by one the enemy was struck down.

Ranmaru crafted together a series of hands signs and swung his swords.

"**Fuuton: Kazekiri no jutsu!"**

With each swing of his sword, a large slicing wind was hurled at the Ōto-nin, decapitating or slicing the enemy in two or more pieces.

Not one to be left out, Hikari strung together hand signs and spun her swords in front of her creating a building electric charge.

"**Raiton: Rairyuu no Tatsumaki no Jutsu!"**

The spinning swords created an electrified whirlwind that shot forward and took the form of a dragon. The dragon shot forward and electrocuted all in its path.

Ranmaru smirked at the kunoichi's use of the high level jutsu. Now only a few of the enemy remained and were cowering in fear. He pulled a long cord of heavy duty rope from his pouch and tied them up.

**(Kakashi and Ryuusei)**

After separating every one, Kakashi was teamed up with the man named Ryuusei. The warrior had two combat knives that were a blaze with intense green flames. They stood back to back as the remaining shinobi surrounded them.

"Your name's Fuuma, Ryuusei right?"

He nodded.

"Well, let's see if we can't make the best of this situation. Shall we begin?"

Kakashi pulled out six kunai and held them, three in each hand. Ryuusei smirked and took his stance.

"What are we waiting for?"

With that each took half of the incoming shinobi. Ryuusei went left while Kakashi went right, throwing his kunai at the nearest targets.

Ryuusei wasted no time in using his blades. The enemy was either set aflame or received deep gashes that caused them to bleed out in mere moments. Making little impact on the large number of Ōto-nin, Ryuusei jumped back to evade an incoming attack and began crafting hand signs. His hands and body were engulfed in a green flame and just as an Ōto-nin jumped forward to strike with a katana that had high speed vibrations lining the edge. But the ōto-nin was stopped by Ryuusei grabbing him by his neck. After a few seconds of being in a neck hold, the shinobi was instantly engulfed in the green fire and burned to ash in mere moments.

"Your all fools…now, be turned to ash. **Katon: Moukaryuu no jutsu!"**

The flames around Ryuusei began to concentrate in his hand and formed into a spiraling sphere. The sphere of swirling flames changed into a gold color and he cocked his hand back, and then fired the sphere into the center of the attacking mass. As the sphere flew towards the enemy, it transformed into a dragon made of chakra. The dragon scorched the earth and disintegrated anything in its path. When the dragon reached the center of the attacking shinobi, it flew into the air before flying back down and exploding, creating a large crater.

Ryuusei picked up his combat knife that fell when he grabbed the shinobi's throat. He looked back at Kakashi and saw that he using **Raikiri** to take down a few of the ōto-nin. But it seemed that he had over exerted his chakra reserves and was starting to wear down.

Kakashi jumped back to avoid an incoming attack and landed next to Ryuusei.

Panting, Kakashi looked at the severely winded Tenjin. "Maybe I could use a little more training, don't you think?"

Ryuusei snorted, and then pushed Kakashi to the side. "Let me handle the rest, if any survive tie them up. Oh and don't take it the wrong way. It's just that a quick clean approach is best for now."

Kakashi sweat dropped and just smiled.

Ryuusei walked forward and bit his left thumb and swiped the blood across the summoning tattoo on his right bicep.

"**Kuchiyose no Jutsu: Daimaou!"**

A dark armor like apparatus appeared on his back. A steel rose in between its sharp teeth. It had two metallic arms that had claws on the ends, holding red crystal blades that glowed with chakra.

Ryuusei stood facing the enemy with his arms crossed and a small smirk on his face. "Hatake Kakashi, allow me to introduce you to the crowning jewel of the Fuuma Clan, The Daimaou!"

Kakashi was intrigued. From the corner of his eye, he saw an ōto-nin was about to decapitate him, but before he could turn around the shinobi hit the ground with a crystal chakra blade protruding from the middle of his forehead piercing straight through his head. Kakashi looked back at Ryuusei to see he hadn't moved an inch.

The black haired Tenjin charged at the incoming enemy shinobi and moved in and out of attacks and he used Daimaou to embed more spikes into the enemy. When the ōto-nin were too close, he grabbed the spikes from the clawed hands and slashed at them before embedding the blades into the next shinobi. Grabbing three in each hand, he threw them into a group. The blades hovered around the targets and when Ryuusei jumped back to a safe distance he snapped his fingers, causing the blades of crystallized chakra to explode and send pieces flying in all direction. Killing or seriously maiming the unfortunate shinobi and leaving the battlefield covered their blood.

The scattershot took out most of the enemy, leaving only a handful of survivors that were too demoralized to fight. Kakashi secured them in strong wire and rope, before nodding to Ryuusei.

"Was that supposed to be quick and clean?" Kakashi teased.

Ryuusei was panting hard and dispersed Daimaou as he looked at Kakashi with a scowl. "You know what old man, I did all your work and this is the thanks I get. Ranmaru's right…you are an ass."

"That has yet to be proven."

Ryuusei snarled before he fell forward into the snow. Kakashi ran to his side.

"Fuuma-san, are you alright? Can you move?"

Ryuusei groaned as he struggled to move. "Yeah, yeah, I'm fine. I'm just drained right now. I only used an S rank jutsu. Just give me a minute to rest then I'll be fine."

Kakashi chuckled, "And you called me an old man."

"SHUT UP OR I"LL KILL YOU!

**(Sora and Seiji)**

There were only a five of the enemy trapped with the Kozuki twins. They were large and built like they could take down a brick wall like it was a piece of paper.

Seiji looked from his imoto to the enemy and smirked. "Sora let me take care of them by myself. I want to try a new jutsu I created."

The five shinobi laughed. The largest one in the center of the group laughed. "Do you honestly think that you could take us all, little man? We were hand picked by Orochimaru-sama to capture the jinchuuriki of the Kyuubi no Yoko. We are the el…"

Before he could finish his taunt, his head was cut off and fell to the ground with a loud thud. His body followed right after, leaving the other four speechless.

Spinning her double bladed Naginata in front of her then resting it across her shoulders, Sora smiled sweetly. "I guess this Orochimaru guy must have some pretty weak subordinates. Don't you agree onii-chan?"

Seiji snorted, "This will be over in a matter of minutes."

Seiji stuck the tips of his blades into the ground shoulder length apart and smirked and his formed a series of hand signs. After a few seconds, he gripped the hilts of his blades and poured his chakra into the swords. The blade on the left glowed with a light blue chakra and revealed the kanji for water. The second blade glowed with a light green chakra and showed the kanji for wind. The two energies converged and the air around him grew cold.

"**Hyouton: Haryuu no Jutsu!"**

The snow on the ground swirled into two large tigers with huge fangs and shot toward the four enemies's taking out the two on the right. Tearing them to pieces before dissolving back into regular blood soaked snow.

Seiji was panting hard as he pulled his swords from the ground. "Kuso, I'm still working on it, but I can't make more than two."

Before he could move an inch, a large wave of sound hit him straight in the chest and shattering his armor into pieces. Seiji was knocked to the ground as blood ran down from his ears and mouth.

The two remaining shinobi laughed at the sight.

"How pathetic? Can't back up your talk?"

Sora focused in on the one laughing and appeared behind them, with her blades against their necks.

"Too bad _you_ can't back up your talk with actions. Say hello to your friends in the underworld."

With that, Sora spun around taking their heads off in one fluid motion.

Seiji couldn't stand, but he could tell that his imoto had defeated the two so easily.

Tears fell from his eyes. "Why? Why aren't I stronger?"

"Don't worry Onii-chan; you'll become stronger soon enough."

**(Naruto)**

Naruto had been fending off his share of the enemy, but his clones were being knocked away by long range jutsu. He was beginning to tire as his chakra was being spent trying to make more clones. He managed to use his **Odama rasengan **kill a few of them but was still being knocked back. Jumping back to a safe distance, Naruto caught his breath as he looked at the remaining fifteen shinobi that were advancing. He was about to start calling on some of Kyuubi's chakra when a loud and familiar cry rang out.

"**Dynamic Entry!"** Both Gai and lee crashed onto the battlefield, along with tenten and neji close behind them.

"Hey bushy brow, man I'm glad you guys are here!"

Striking his trademark good guy pose, lee smiled at the blonde shinobi. "Don't worry Naruto-san; let us take things from here."

Laughter was heard coming from the ten remaining ōto-nin. One who was shirtless but had sound gauntlets laughed the hardest.

"What is this Halloween? What's with those horrible outfits?"

Gai fumed. "These are special training outfits designed to maximize ones training results."

Neji and tenten sweat dropped at their sensei's logic.

"When will they realize they look like idiots and ditch those horrible outfits?" Neji sighed.

Tenten sighed as well, knowing that her sensei's sense of fashion was the butt of all their enemies' jokes.

Before anyone else could argue with Gai's sense of fashion, a kunai flew through air and nearly missed Naruto by a centimeter and managed to slice his cheek.

The shinobi who had make remarks about Gai's outfit had thrown the kunai. "Enough talk, it's time for you to die."

Team Gai and Naruto took their stances and tenten unhooked the scroll from her back. As soon as the enemy twitched in anticipation, the battle had begun with team Gai and Naruto taking the initiative and charging straight at them.

Tenten invoked her scroll and jumped into the air as the scroll spun around her.

"**Kuchiyose no jutsu: Sōshōryū!"**

A barrage of weapons was summoned and was sent flying at the enemy. A few of them were smart enough to deflect the weapons with sound waves, but the others were stunned by the number of weapons that she had summoned.

There were just five left now, but they were quickly dispatched by neji's Jyuuken, a combination of lee and Gai's taijutsu and naruto's Ransengan.

When the last man fell, everyone was relieved that they no linger had to fight.

"We should see how my eternal rival, Kakashi and the rest of our comrades are doing."

Everyone nodded in agreement, before heading toward kakashi's location.

**(Sasuke, Hotaru and Kazuma)**

Hotaru and Suigetsu squared off. The white haired swordsman smiled a toothy grin and charged forward. Hotaru, using her superior speed, spun on the balls of her left foot and landed a solid right kick to the side of Suigetsu's head, sending him flying before he turned into a puddle of water.

"Kuso, he was just a **Mizu bushin.**" Hotaru kept her guard up as she looked around for the white haired man.

Sensing something behind her, Hotaru ducked and rolled onto her shoulders then kicking out with both legs, she caught Suigetsu in the chest and knocked the wind out of him. Hotaru pushed up on her hands and kicked up so she landed on her feet. After landing on her feet, Hotaru faced Suigetsu and smirked at him, but before she could taunt him, he turned into water again and surprised her by appearing behind her and landing a solid punch to her face, sending her flying.

Suigetsu chuckled, "Like it?" He showed her his now enlarged arm that had grown double in muscle size. "Just a perk of being made of water, I'm able to adjust the size of my limbs to enhance my strength and I'm able to evade attacks by turning into water."

Hotaru kneeled and wiped the blood from her mouth. _'So he's made of water, huh?_

She stood and formed a few quick hand signs and concentrated her chakra to her hands. A Large charge of electricity surrounded her gauntlets.

"**Raiton: Jibashi no Jutsu!"**

She charged forward and grabbed Suigetsu by the throat. He just smiled as he turned to water before she could wrap both hands around his neck. The jutsu dispersed and Suigetsu reformed halfway.

"Too bad, seems like your jutsu couldn't stop me either."

Hotaru just smirked as Suigetsu reformed fully. "Who ever said that was my jutsu?"

Suigetsu looked confused until a kage bushin of Hotaru appeared behind him and using the same ration jutsu, piercing him through the heart, killing him instantly.

Hotaru stepped back and regrouped with sasuke who had tied up the red haired woman.

Kazuma was struggling to keep up with the red monster. It had quickly become a test of who was stronger and who had more endurance. Each blow was equally matched and countered. Kazuma's hammer had been knocked away at the beginning of the battle and he had no time to recover it.

Blood was running down his face even as he received another enhanced punch from juugo. Without backing away or taking a step back, kazuma powered through the pain and punched juugo in the face. Both were bloody and beaten, but didn't back down.

Jumping back, kazuma formed the necessary seals and when he landed he slammed his hands onto the ground and called out, **"Doton: Doryuudan no Justu!"**

A large dragon made from earth clawed its way out of the ground and shot toward Juugo. Juugo crossed his arms in front of him and braced himself for the impact as the dragon hit him. He was pushed back as the dragon tried to crush him with its might. With a mighty roar, Juugo pulled back his arm and punched the earth dragon under its jaw sending it skyward and crumbling from the force of Juugo's fist.

Kazuma grit his teeth and glared at Juugo. "Tch, okay that plan backfired a little bit. Let's try this…" He signed quickly. **"Doton: Ganchuuso no Jutsu!" **

Spikes of stone rose up from the earth and aimed to impale the red monster. Juugo was forced to jump back as he narrowly escaped impalement. As the large rock spikes continually missed their target or were smashed by Juugo's strength, Kazuma watched as the monster moved and formulated a plan.

Signing a second time, Kazuma slammed his hands onto the ground. **"Doton: Ganketsukon!"**

Spears made of stone appeared in front of Kazuma and floated as if ready to be launched at the enemy. Taking a step back, Kazuma took a deep breath as he watched Juugo move in and out of the spikes, in an attempt to stay alive. After a second more, Kazuma began his assault.

Instead of using his chakra to send the spears flying, Kazuma used his strength. He stuck the closest spear sending it hurdling toward Juugo. Then in an instant he sent more flying as he used an open palm to the closest spears and a jump kick to the next. While still in the air, he flipped forward and sent more spears flying. His finally spear was the largest and he used a double open palm to send it hurdling at the red monster.

Juugo was having a hard time dodging the rising spikes and cursed the warrior that he was battling as he now had to dodge spears that were aimed at him. Three had got him in the back and one had embedded itself in his shoulder. He was slowing down; he needed to end it quickly.

He jumped toward Hotaru and the tired Sasuke. Sasuke moved to draw his katana, but was beat to it as Kazuma stepped in front of them and knocked Juugo away.

"Lady Hotaru, are you alright?" Kazuma panted as he addressed Hotaru without taking his eyes off Juugo.

Hotaru smiled, "Thanks to you. Do you need assistance?"

Kazuma laughed and spared Hotaru a glance. "Sorry to say, I think that I may have bitten off more than I could chew." Hotaru tilted her head. "But I think I can manage a little longer."

Hotaru sighed and stepped back. "It's your choice. Just remember I'm always here."

Kazuma nodded and returned his full attention to Juugo who was now standing with blood oozing down his face. The thing that shocked everyone, including Juugo, was the fact that half his body had returned to normal. Kazuma raised his right hand in front of him and snapped his fingers. There was moment's pause as they waited for something to happen. After a moment, Kazuma's discarded hammer popped out of thin air and appeared in his right hand.

Focusing his remaining chakra into his weapon, Kazuma charged forward his hammer poised to strike. Still transforming back to his human form, Juugo could only watch as the hammer swung down on his head. He was smashed into the ground with enough create a two foot crater around his body. Unfortunately for Kazuma, the force of his swing caused the head of his hammer to split down the middle and snap off the handle. Grieving for his long time friend and weapon for a moment, Kazuma tucked the handle into his sash and rejoined Hotaru.

"Let's join up with the others and see how they handled this mess without us." Hotaru picked up Karin and began walking with the others following behind her.

Everyone, but those who had pursued after Sasuke, was resting after the battle with the prisoners' tied up securely to a few trees. They were waiting for the rest of their group to return. They felt the large chakra spike, coming from where they assumed Sasuke and the rest were located, disappeared.

Their waiting was not in vain. Sasuke, Hotaru, carrying Karin, and Kazuma walked into the clearing minutes later. Hotaru dropped Karin in front of Kakashi and addressed him.

"This is the sensory kunoichi that was able to see where the tags were that we were going to use as an ambush. What should we do with her?"

Kakashi looked thoughtful and a thought came to him. "I say we kill her. We don't have any use for her in Konoha. On the way there, she might turn on us."

Karin and the young Chunin were shocked into silence at his words. The Tenjin were indifferent.

Karin paled. "W-w-what are you saying? Y-y-y-you c-c-can't kill me. I have information on orochimaru that would be useful to you. Please, PLEASE DON'T KILL ME!"

She began to sob hard at the thought of dying. Kakashi glared at her. "How can we trust you?"

Karin looked at Sasuke. "Please Sasuke don't let them kill me. You know you can trust me."

"If he was still alive, you would be useful. Now if you had information on the akatsuki that would be another matter." Kakashi knelt in front of the red haired woman.

Karin looked from Sasuke to Kakashi. "Yes, yes I do have information. If I tell you will you promise not to kill me?"

Kakashi hummed thoughtfully. "Depends on the information."

"The akatsuki had planned to recruit one of your member's so that they could learn all of konoha's secrets. They're planning a mass invasion in just three…" Karin was cut by a red hand protruding from her stomach.

"**You dare to betray Orochimaru-sama, Karin? I'll spare you his wrath and end your pathetic existence."**

The red hand belonged to the "Deceased" Juugo. His right arm, protruding out of Karin's stomach as blood ran down her chin and through the gaping hole in her body. But in his left hand, was Kazuma's throat. Ranmaru's blood ran cold and everything slowed down. Everything was in slow motion in his eyes as he locked on to his friends gaze. A toothy grin on Kazuma's face was seen, as though he had accepted his fate and was not afraid.

Then it happened. Juugo's arm had retracted from karin's body and pierced through Kazuma's back and came out through his chest.

It was then that something snapped inside of Ranmaru, causing his heart become filled with hate and bloodlust.

**Alright, finished. What happens when Ranmaru snaps? Could this spell trouble for everyone? Tune in next time for the next installment of Aishiteru Vol.2.**

**Next time: The death friend!**

**See you soon!**

**Kubikiri Houcho: Head chopping cleaver. A sword used by Zabuza from Kirigakure.**

**Raiton: Chidori Senbon: A branch off technique from a regular chidori. Thousands of lightning senbon are created and can be sent flying with a swing of the users' hand.**

**Doton:****Retsudotensho: An earth type jutsu that sends shockwaves beneath the ground causing an earth shattering earthquake that can bury opponents in rubble.**

**Katon: Moukaryuu no jutsu: (fierce dragon of fire.)**

**Kuchiyose no jutsu: Daimaou (Demon lord): A hellish weapon that can be worn like a backpack, able to create countless crystallized chakra spikes that can hover around the user and be thrown, wielded or exploded creating a scattershot of crystal shards at Ryuusei's command.**

**Doton: Ganchuusou (Rock pillar spears): An earth technique that causes spears or pillars of stone that rises up from the ground to impale or pin the targets.**

**Doton: Gansetsukon (Rock spears): Spears of stone that can be launched at the opponent.**


	11. The Death of a Friend!

**Alright now that I've finished the last chapter, I can move on to the next. Just hold on and soon there will be a Naruhina reunion. I just have to say thanks to all of you who read my story. Now on to the next chapter of…**

…

**Aishiteru Vol.2**

**Chapter 11: The Death of a Friend!**

Blood. People would always tell him that he craved the sight of blood. Ever since he had been young, he had always seen blood. The smell was so familiar to him that his nose could pick up the slightest hint of the red life source. They called him bloodthirsty, but in reality…he hated the sight of it. It reminded him of his father's death, his mother's death, and the death of someone he called brother.

Blood. It drove him to the brink of madness at thought of all the blood he had seen and shed, his own or his enemies. For a person who spent most of his life on a battlefield, the sight of blood is not that uncommon.

For Ranmaru, the sight of his friend's blood caused something to snap inside of him. It was as though a scale had tipped and caused his mind to go blank. His pupils had shrunk to the point that they could hardly be seen. The usually vibrant gold color that shone in his eyes, was now had a dull and glazed tint to them.

Suddenly, he began walking toward Juugo and Kazuma. Juugo laughed manically, not realizing that Ranmaru's chakra spiked. With each step Ranmaru took, his face contorted in an attempt to regain control of his body.

Juugo stopped laughing as he saw the white haired man walking towards him. "What do you hope to accomplish? You're too weak to do anything."

Juugo tossed the deceased Kazuma to the ground. The sound of his dead body resonated throughout the battlefield. Ranmaru stopped in mid-step and the whispering of Kazuma's name also stopped. There was an unnerving silence as time seemed to stop for everyone. Taking advantage of the dazed Ranmaru, Juugo transformed his arm into a razor sharp blade and struck out to kill. But his strike missed its target as Ranmaru leaned to the left and right as Juugo continued to strike. Juugo stopped as he grew tired. His injuries were still fresh and were taking its toll.

Ranmaru stood there, silent and without a single twitch of a muscle. His face contorted into one of pain suddenly as his muscles bulged and grew double in size. He hunched over in pain as he grew taller and his hair grew slightly longer, but intensely spikier and blood red with black streaks and his muscles grew one more size and shattered his armor and tore his shirt. His leg muscles caused rips in the legs of his pants. His iris's had disappeared, leaving his eyes just solid white. His claws were longer and his canines were an inch longer and sharper. The normally white aura that surrounded him in his transformed state was now a jet black color that radiated with killing intent and negative energy.

His chakra had jumped from its normal level to three times the amount. He roared in pain continuously as he transformed. As suddenly as it started, Ranmaru stopped and went silent. All that could be heard was him panting raggedly.

The Konoha shinobi had tensed from the amount of chakra that was radiating off of the Tenjin. They could only look on as the other Tenjin watched with anticipation as though they were waiting for something extremely bad to happen to happen next.

Ranmaru slowly stood straight and strangely looked up to the sky and stared upward in a trance. His expression was one of sadness and regret.

Juugo was shaking in fear. Fear that he didn't understand and wanted to get rid of. Something in Ranmaru was making him feel this fear. He had to destroy…no…obliterate the man in front of him.

"**I-i-i-i w-w-ill DESTROY YOU AND END YOUR EXISTANCE!"** Juugo charged at Ranmaru, transforming his arm into a large axe and swung downward with great force.

Ranmaru just stood there looking at the sky in a trance, unaware that his death was drawing nearer. Then a mere second before the axe had touched his nose, Ranmaru stopped it with a finger. Juugo struggled to push the weapon down to kill the Tenjin, but it wouldn't budge and single inch. Ranmaru slowly looked down and looked at Juugo's eyes with his white eyes. A sadistic smile swept across ranmaru's face as he placed the arm like weapon fully into his hand and in an instant Juugo's blade was snapped in half. As a result his hand was broken off his wrist.

Blood ran down from the stump on Juugo's arm. He didn't notice it until he jumped back and saw his now human hand in Ranmaru's grip.

"**AAAAAHHHH! WHAT HAVE YOU DONE TO MY HAND? I'LL KILL YOU!"**

Juugo charged forward and punched Ranmaru in the face, but instead of sending him flying like he had intended to, Ranmaru wasn't even phased by it. He looked at Juugo as a trickle of blood ran down his chin. Juugo took a step back in shock. Ranmaru tossed the severed hand as he licked the blood from his chin.

"You shall be the first victim of my carnage." Ranmaru's voice had grown deeper and more sinister.

"**D-die!"** Juugo charged again only to meet a back handed fist to the back of his head.

Ranmaru was behind Juugo looking in a different direction with an evil smirk on his face. With a swift back kick, Juugo was sent flying only to be met with another swift kick from Ranmaru, sending him skyward. Still dazed by the first hint, Juugo went high into the sky, but before he could regain his head, Ranmaru appeared above him and hit him in the gut with an elbow drop. Juugo hit the ground with an earth shattering speed.

As he hit the ground, he coughed up blood and his body turned back into his second stage of his curse mark. He struggled to move, but couldn't as his arms and legs were embedded in the ground. He turned his head to see where the Tenjin was only to find him when his feet crashed down, painfully, on to his chest.

"Finished already?" Ranmaru jumped into the air and landed on Juugo's chest with even greater force.

"Did you think that you could defeat me?" Ranmaru jumped again…and again…and again with greater force each time, making Juugo cough up more blood and sink further and further into the earth with each jump.

Juugo cried out in pain with each hit. Ranmaru's smirk widened as he jumped off Juugo and landed a small distance away. He looked down and saw his sword Ragnarok was at his feet. It had fallen when his armor shattered. He picked it up and the moment it touched his hand, the wolf's eyes on the sword blazed with energy and its mouth unlatched from the blade, sent dark negative energy up the blade, making it sharper than it was before. The blade itself became red hot and Ranmaru looked from the blade back to the barely breathing Juugo and grinned maliciously. He calmly walked over to the crater that he left Juugo in and growled.

"Big talk for such a little man, too bad…you were the first person I thought could give me more of a challenge. Now…time to die!" Ranmaru raised his sword and was about to plunge it straight through Juugo's heart when he froze. His hands were shaking and wouldn't budge.

"Damn you Ranmaru…I'm in control now!" With that he plunged Ragnarok into Juugo's chest. Blood gushed from the wound and sprayed him in the face with blood. His grin grew as he twisted the blade into Juugo's body. He wretched the blade from Juugo's body and looked at the blade as the blood ran down the edge.

Then he frowned, "Needs more…blood" He looked at the captured shinobi and resting the blade across his shoulders, walked toward them. "Yes…more…blood"

…

Naruto saw this and moved to run in front of Ranmaru, but was stopped by Ryuusei. He shook his head and looked at Hotaru.

"He's going to kill them. They can't defend themselves." Naruto tried to move past him but was met by hotaru's glare.

"Ryuusei, Sora, Seiji, let's go." Hotaru saw that Naruto was going to say something and glared at him. "This is our problem…your have no involvement in this. Stay out of it and let us handle it."

Naruto said nothing else and looked toward his sensei. Kakashi saw his student looking at him and sighed.

"There are something's that some people wouldn't understand. I say just let them do what needs to be done."

Naruto resigned himself and backed away toward the other Konoha shinobi and watched as the Tenjin walked toward their berserk leader.

…..

"Okay time to…die!" Ranmaru raised his sword with one hand and began to swing down but was stopped by hotaru's gauntlet covered hand grabbing the blade. "Oh it's you…"

"Ranmaru, you need to get a hold of yourself. Wake up!" Hotaru looked into his white eyes with determination.

"Oh but I am awake…koneko-chan." Ranmaru put more force on the sword in his hand as Hotaru used both her hands to keep her leverage on the blade.

Ryuusei had **Daimaou **ready and waiting. Seiji had his two blades poised to attack or defend and Sora had a kusarigama with the chain loosely wrapped around her forearm while spinning the bladed end, ready to assist her comrades.

Ranmaru glanced at his comrades around him and gripped the sword with his free hand and pressed down harder. Hotaru struggled to keep her grip on the bladed weapon, but the ground beneath her was beginning to give way and crack under the pressure.

"Didn't you learn last time, koneko-chan…or was that wound to your back not a big enough message?" He lifted his sword and kicked Hotaru away, then turned to face Seiji. "And she brought 'Weak legs'. How strong have you gotten since I beat you into the ground?"

"Oi, Seiji don't do anything stupid. You're no where near ready to take him on yet." Ryuusei took a step closer to the younger man, but kept his eyes on Ranmaru.

"I've grown stronger. I'll show you…I"LL SHOW ALL OF YOU!" Seiji charged past his sister and brandished his swords before bringing them both down in an attempt to strike his shoulders.

Ranmaru growled in amusement and just held his sword horizontally and blocked seiji's attempt at killing him. "Still too weak." With a twist of his sword, Ranmaru knocked away Seiji's blades and sent him flying through the air with a large gash on his exposed abdomen.

"SEIJI!" Ryuusei looked away from Ranmaru to see seiji hit the ground and not get. But that was a mistake, as Ranmaru punch him in the gut and knocked the wind out of him then sent him flying with a kick to the head. He hit a nearby tree and blacked out.

Ranmaru just laughed maniacally until a chain wraps around his neck and tightens. Sora was pulling at the chain and holding the handled end of the kusarigama in her other hand. Even though she was using most of her strength to try and subdue the berserk Ranmaru. Ranmaru flexed his neck muscles and shattered the chain with little effort.

"Tch, okay that didn't work." Sora crossed her index and middle fingers on both hands into a cross shape sign. **"Kage bushin no Jutsu!"**

Ten more Soras appeared and summoned more kusarigama or pulled out more chains. They each wrapped a different part of his body. Two chains on each arm and leg, two around his abdomen and one around his neck and they pulled the chains taunt as they tried to bring him down. They managed to bring him down to one knee, but Ranmaru grabbed hold of the closest chains and pulled. He slammed the four Sora's holding onto his arms into each other and they dispersed. He grasped the chain around his neck and ripped it apart, then grabbed the two chains on his legs and ripped them off. The four sora's holding onto the chains had fallen back when the tension was cut off.

Next he turned and grasped the final chains around his abdomen and spun around, knocking the ones holding the chains off their feet and sending them flying into trees as he spun. After they were gone he turned to the remaining soras and swiftly dealt with them leaving the original unconscious. He turned to the bound ōto-nin and built up a mass amount of chakra in his hand that immediately condensed to the size of a baseball. The captives began struggling against their bindings.

"Struggle all you want…in the end you still dead." With that he launched the baseball of condensed chakra into the center of the prisoners and it disintegrated all of them in the blink of an eye. He smirked as he clenched and unclenched his fists.

"My power…is rising…I am invincible." Ranmaru growled.

"Invincible huh, well then I guess you'll blush a pretty shade of pink when I kick your ass." Hikari appeared behind Ranmaru and she jumped into the air before delivering a spin kick to the side of his head and knocking him down.

Ranmaru was able to stop himself from hitting the ground a mere inch before contact. "Don't get cocky kid; you haven't dealt with any one like me. And imotou or not, I will kill you and preserve my control over this body.

Hikari hesitated, "I-imotou? Ar-are you serious?"

Ranmaru laughed, "No one's told you. Oh well…you don't have to worry about that. You'll be dead soon enough."

Ranmaru disappeared and reappeared behind her with sword raised and swung to decapitate her. But a second before the blade would have connected, Hikari disappeared. She landed a powerful punch to his stomach knocking the wind from his lungs. He quickly recovered and tried to punch the smaller woman, but froze. His body started shaking like he was fighting against something inside his mind.

"Don't fight it Ranmaru…after she's dead…you can let go and give me this body…like it was meant to be. Like it was always meant to be…since our birth."

"Get away from her." Hotaru charged at Ranmaru and unleashed a barrage of punches and kicks at the red haired man.

In his unfocused state, Ranmaru was unable to defend against her attacks. Hikari broke out of her daze and assisted Hotaru in her onslaught.

…..

Naruto and the others had retrieved the unconscious Tenjin and retreated back to a safe distance. They could only watch as the two women attempted to subdue the berserk leader. They were holding their own and were pushing him back.

…..

Ranmaru snarled as he blocked the attacks, but still a few slipped through his defense, until he had had enough and released a burst of chakra knocking the two women back and off balance. They regained their footing and dropped back into their stances. They waited to see what Ranmaru would do next. He was panting heavily as blood flowed down his face and gashes from when Hikari used the discarded kusarigama that Sora dropped.

Hotaru was in no better condition. She had a cut across her left brow and the wound was bleeding profusely. Her armor was cracking from the center of her abdomen and there were gashes on her arms and legs.

Hikari was panting just as bad as Ranmaru and she was beginning to shift in and out of her stronger form. She was struggling against if she should use her katana to fight. She decided against it and settled for using taijutsu.

"Hikari…I know we don't know each other very well, but…" Hotaru glanced from Hikari to Ranmaru.

"What is it?"

"I need you to trust me and work with me. It's the only way to defeat him."

"Right…but do you have a plan because I don't think that I can hold out much longer."

"Yes, but know this…what may have happened before, is the past after we left our home…our old selves died that day. What you see before you is the result of years of anguish and hate. Don't hate your Onii-chan for what he may have done, okay?"

Hikari nodded and after hearing hotaru's plan they both branched off with Hotaru heading right and Hikari heading left. The plan was to place a seal that Hotaru was given in case something like this had happened. The only reason she couldn't use it was because the amount of chakra that he was emitting would have disrupted the seal. So they had to wear him do a bit more for the seal to work.

They worked together and Ranmaru was able to block only a few of their strikes. He was tiring and he knew it. It wouldn't be long before the body began to reject his presence and send him back into ranmaru's subconscious. He had to go for broke.

"Damn you!" he grabbed Hikari by the throat and held her off the ground. Even though his hand was shaking and his body was beginning to reject him, he still held onto her throat. "Even if I can't keep this body I'll kill you and make him even more miserable." He laughed as he knocked Hotaru away and increased the pressure on her throat.

Hikari was trying to get free but her vision was fading fast.

"Just a little more and your de…" he was cut off as a katana was run through a non-vital spot and electricity surged through him causing him to release his hold on Hikari.

She hit the ground and held her throat as she tried to breathe through her nearly crushed wind pipe. She saw Sasuke behind Ranmaru and he had a look of utter hatred on his face.

"DON'T. YOU. DARE." Sasuke snarled as he spoke.

Ranmaru dropped to his knees as he was being electrocuted. Hotaru pushed Sasuke away and pressed the seal between ranmaru's shoulder blades. The seal activated immediately and numerous intricate seals appeared on his body. They shone bright green and Ranmaru began transforming back into his normal self. He groaned in pain as Hotaru pulled the sword from his body.

Hotaru cradled his body close to hers as he shuddered from exhaustion. "It's okay Ranmaru. It's okay."

Ranmaru opened his eyes and struggled to speak. "H-h-hikari…i..is..she…?"

Hotaru looked from him to Hikari who was in sasuke's arms, who nodded. "She's fine."

Hotaru had tears well up in her eyes.

"I…I tr-trans…formed again?" Ranmaru could barely keep his eyes open.

He looked around and saw the other Tenjin barely regain consciousness and blacked out from exhaustion.

Kakashi knelt next to them. "We should get everyone back to the inn. I'll carry Ran-chan for you."

He took the young man from the blonde haired woman and Sasuke carried Hikari in his arms. Everyone else who was the least injured helped those that couldn't move on their own back to the hotel.

This battle was over…But everyone could feel that there were more battles to come. For now they would rest and worry about the future another time.

…..

**Done…I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter and have good things to say about it. So read and review guys (and girl) and hope to see you soon.**

**Next time: Secrets told!**


	12. Secrets revealed!

**So what's up people? How'd you like the last chapter? I hope you guys (and Girls) enjoyed it and are ready for more. I hope you aren't angry that I prolonged the naruhina reunion. But hasn't it been worth it. Gave you a bit to think about and digest, huh. Now the long awaited reunion. Alright on with the next installment of…**

…**.**

**Aishiteru Vol.2**

**Chapter 12: Secrets Told!**

_A baby's loud wailing could be heard throughout the small secluded clearing where a small hut was located. It wasn't anything special, just a simple wooden hut with a small fenced in area for the small amount of livestock._

_Inside a woman had just given birth to a beautiful baby girl. The tiny infant had a tuft of grey hair that would turn white as she got older and purple eyes. The mother of this beautiful baby girl laid with her new born cradled in her arms on a futon in the center of the room. The mother had long beautiful straw gold hair and sapphire eyes. She looked to be around her mid twenties. She was very beautiful._

"_You and the young lord may come in now, shigure-dono." The doctor called out to the two others in the other room, separated by a shoji door._

_The man known as shigure slid the door open and nodded to the doctor. Shigure was a man that was about 6 foot 7 inches in height, had white hair that was in a high ponytail, but had chopped bangs and deep purple eyes and was of a lean, but muscular build. He had a healed scar on his right eye that went vertically across. He was wearing deep green samurai armor with a gold_ _insignia on the chest plate of two wolves circling each other, one was chasing an image of the sun and the other was chasing an image of a full moon. Two katana were attached to his waist, one on the left and one on the right. In addition he had two katana attached to his back in an X. His shihakusho under the armor was grey with a deep green sash._

_He smiled at the woman holding the infant and looked back. With a small smile, he gently nudged a five year old boy, dressed in a simple dark blue kimono with a pin wheel design, held by white sash, into the room. The boy had waist length white hair, like shigure, and looked like a miniature version of him; the only difference was that while the man had two deep purple eyes, the boy's right eye was a golden color and his left eye was deep purple._

"_Now, now Ranmaru, why don't you say hello to your baby sister, after all you're the one who she will look up to and depend on." Shigure snickered at the look his son gave him. "Go on, say hi."_

_The young Ranmaru grew anxious as he approached the woman and child. The woman smiled gently at the young boy as he stared in awe at the small bundle in his mother's arms._

"_Would you like to name her, Ranmaru?" The woman looked to the father of her children and he nodded at the idea._

"_Can I kaa-san? Tou-san?" He looked at each of them and beamed when the both nodded. "C-can I hold her?"_

_The woman nodded and carefully handed the crying newborn over to the five year old. She situated the baby correctly in his arms and made sure she was secure. She stopped crying and looked up at her older brother with a smile._

"_Sugoi! She's so light…light…" Ranmaru looked at his mother. "Can we call her…Hikari?"_

"_What do you think Kagome?"_

_Kagome looked at the young Ranmaru with a gentle smile. "I think it's a wonderful name. Her name will be Hikari."_

"_And soon the three of us shall live together. Would you like that Ranmaru?" Shigure smiled at his family._

_Ranmaru didn't hear his father's question all he heard was the soft breathing of his newborn sister. The young Ranmaru smiled widely and held his sister closer. He whispered softly to the dozing girl, "Hikari…you won't have to worry about anything. I'll take good care of you so that you'll smile…everyday."_

…..

Ranmaru's eye's opened lazily and he glanced around the room. His eye's landed on his sword Ragnarok and the event's the day before hit him like a ton of bricks. He shot up, but immediately regretted it as pain shot through him. He grabbed his at the bandages around his abdomen. Sweat dropped down his head as he struggled to stay upright.

He tried to stand, but as soon as he was on his feet he hit the ground and couldn't get up. Hotaru, who had just walked in the door with a tray of tea, rushed to his side and helped him to his feet.

"What are you doing? You're supposed to be resting, not trying to kill yourself by reopening your wounds."

Ranmaru pushed her away and steadied himself. "I should have had more control. I should have prevented my transformation. Damn it all to hell!"

Ranmaru punched a wall next to him and made a large hole. He panted from over exertion and fell to his knees. He grimaced from the pain and his wounds reopening.

Hotaru rushed to his side and laid him on his back as she called for shizune. Shizune ran into the room and hurried to seal the bleeding injury.

"What were you thinking? You opened your wounds completely." Hotaru helped shizune to bandage the almost healed injury.

"This is penance for what I've done. I wouldn't have been able to forgive myself if something happened to any of you because of my lack of strength." Tears fell from his eyes as he lay there.

…..

(In Naruto and Hinata's room)

Naruto sat beside their bed as Hinata slept. He held her hand and had his head on her stomach. He was thinking over what had happened within the last 24 hours. His childhood friend, some one he viewed as a sister, had not lonely betrayed the village and them, but also tried to kill the woman he loved. If it wasn't for Tenjin, Hinata would not be alive. But if it wasn't for him, Hinata wouldn't have almost died because of sakura's jealousy.

"Wabiiru, Hinata-chan. I don't deserve you. How can you love me? I've caused nothing but trouble for you and still you stay by my side. Why do you love me?"

Tears fell from his eyes as he thought of the love that Hinata showed him and at the fact that if he wanted to protect her from all the dangers that came with being close to him…he would have to end his relationship with the lavender eyed Hyuuga.

As if she could feel his distress, Hinata reached out to him with her free hand and caressed the side of his face.

"Na…ru…to…" Hinata groggily called out to him.

Naruto jumped from both the hand touching his face and hinata's voice calling out to him.

"Hinata, are you alright? Do you need anything…can I get you something?"

Hinata opened her eyes and pulled on his hand. "Lay with me."

Naruto lay beside her and held her close with her head in the crook of his neck. She snuggled closer and drifted off to sleep.

"Aishiteru, Naru-kun."

Naruto sighed. "Aishiteru, hina-chan." _'So much that it will hurt to have to let you go. I want you to live a safe and happy life. Even if it's one with out me.'_

**(In naruto's mind)**

**Kyuubi scoffed, "I'll never understand you human's. Kokoa I will miss you, thank you for your sacrifice."**

**Kyuubi laid down and rested his paw over his eyes, falling into a deep sleep.**

…..

(Back with Ranmaru)

Ranmaru was patched back up and was lying on his bed. Kakashi was sitting beside him. As was Hikari and Sasuke. As Ranmaru regained his breath, he looked to Kakashi and glared at him. Kakashi only grinned as he was glared at.

"Don't blame me, she wanted to become a shinobi and it seemed like a good idea. Besides isn't it better to have her be able to protect herself than to be a damsel in distress all the time."

Ranmaru sighed. "You're right. But you should have sent word to me that she was alive and well in konoha. I told you to take her to our relative, but instead you take her to the one place I told you not to take her."

Hikari was intrigued and remained silent. Kakashi sighed.

"As if there was any choice…I did as you asked but when I got to your cousin's home in Yuki no kuni, but when I got there, menomaru had sent men to wipe out that village. There was no one left. Your cousin, his family and their neighbors were dead."

Ranmaru closed his eyes and mourned for a moment. "I should have seen that coming…"

Kakashi cut him off. "You were scared and only 11 years old. You were only thinking of your sister. There was no way to have seen this coming."

"Wait…you're both talking like you know each other. Explain to me how you know each other." Hikari looked at Ranmaru. "And how do you know me? Am I really your sister?"

Kakashi was about to speak, but Ranmaru beat him to it. "Which do you want to know first?"

"I want to know, if I'm not from Konohagakure, then where am I from? Do I have family there or are we the only ones?"

Sasuke was interested also and wanted to know the story.

Ranmaru took a deep breath and sat up. He held his hand up when Hotaru tried to help him. He took a moment to collect his thoughts and catch his breath.

"You are originally from the rebuilt Uzugakure. After the massacre that destroyed the village twenty years ago, our family was the only survivors aside from Tsukishiro, Kishimoto, Fuuma and Kozuki. As well as many civilians that didn't belong to any living clan survived and were brought into the Batousei clan. That was the clan that we are originally from, the Batousei. I gave that name up for our mother's name, Kururugi."

"What was our mother and father's name? What did they look like?" Hikari moved closer to ranmaru's side.

Ranmaru laid back and rested his head on the pillow, only to have Hotaru move his head to her lap so he was elevated.

He smiled as he remembered his parents, "Our Okaa-san's name was Kururugi, kagome. She was very beautiful with long straw gold hair and sapphire eyes. She was a kind person and was generous. She always helped out those in need and never let people bring her down. I don't remember anything more than that. We were separated because of the council. Our Otou-san's name was Batousei, shigure. Believe it or not I look almost like him…or so I'm told. He was a man that was about 6 foot 7 inches in height, had white hair that was in a high ponytail, but had chopped bangs and deep purple eyes and was of a lean, but muscular build. He had a healed scar on his right eye that went vertically across. He was the strongest man in the village…literally. In order to become the leader of our village, you had to be the strongest."

Sasuke raised an eyebrow, "So basically it's like being one of the Kage."

Ranmaru nodded, "Exactly."

"Why were we separated from our kaa-san? Why did the council not want us to be a family?"

Ranmaru was expecting her question and took a deep breath. "Our tou-san was married to another woman. It was an arranged marriage. Our parents met while he was training in the western part of uzugakure. The reason why the council forbade our parents union aside from the arranged marriage, our kaa-san was a poor woman, and her mother was a village whore. So by association, our kaa-san was thought to be one also. But she was always faithful to our tou-san ever since they met. Her father was no where to be found and we never knew him. Our tou-san was 17 at the time, he was training to succeed the current ruler…I seem to recall his name was Kisuke…Uzumaki, Kisuke. They met when he stayed near her small village for several months and fell in love. Since chichiue was married, at 16, their relationship was a secret."

Shizune, Sasuke, Hikari, were shocked by this news. Only Kakashi was unmoved by the new information.

"Did you say uzumaki?" Shizune turned to Kakashi. "Why aren't you as surprised as the rest of us?"

Kakashi merely sighed and looked at Ranmaru. "You're just as bad as back then. All you do is cause trouble for me."

Ranmaru laughed but started coughing as his wounds started hurting from the laughter.

"Well you did give me trouble to." He wheezed as he tried not to laugh.

"How do you two know each other?" Shizune asked the one eyed copy ninja.

Kakashi closed his book and sat crossed legged as he began his tale. "I met Ranmaru back when I was on my first solo ANBU mission. I was barely nineteen years old and was assigned to guard the one of the next potential heirs to the rebuilt Uzugakure. The person I was meant to guard was ran-chan here and his sister. But after the fall of the last ruler, I was forced to evacuate ran-chan and you, Hikari."

"What do you mean the fall of the last ruler? You mean…"

Ranmaru cut Hikari off. "He was our Otou-san. He was killed by our uncle, menomaru. So I changed my name and joined the army. I was able to create the Tenjin after just three years and by the time I was fifteen I was an outstanding commander of the southern forces. Our uncle seemed to understand how useful I was and all assassination attempts stopped. Instead he sent me to near suicide battles and hoped that I would die in battle and solidified his claim to the throne."

"What about me, how did I end up in konoha?" Hikari was near tears after learning that her father was killed.

"I had to evacuate you after our otou-san was killed. So, I told Kakashi to take you from the village to our cousin's, but I didn't know that he was about to be killed."

Kakashi took over from there. "So I took you to my village and gave you my surname. I knew that if he lived your brother would look for you. Although I was swamped in missions I made sure you were cared for. The third made sure that you were never alone. I guess that's how you must have met Naruto."

Ranmaru smirked, "This Uzumaki, Naruto he is interesting, as is the Hyuuga. I didn't realize that a kitsune Youkai would protect someone like her, let alone give up her life to save the Hyuuga."

Kakashi frowned underneath his mask. "What do you mean?"

"A kitsune Youkai said that a few days ago she began traveling with you, in order to protect Hinata-sama. I believe she took the name that Hinata-sama gave her…Kokoa."

"But kokoa is just a kitsune that we found during our journey. How could she have been a Youkai? Some one would have sensed the difference in chakra." Hikari was amazed that they hadn't noticed something like that.

Kakashi hummed in thought. "Maybe something was hiding it from us…suppressing the different chakra, so that kokoa could do what she was meant to do. Don't you agree ran-chan?"

A tick appeared on ranmaru's head at the nickname. "First off, when the hell are you going to stop calling me that? And second…yes, I agree. Do any of you know who Gouka is? Apparently this guy is the master that gave kokoa the assignment of protecting Hinata."

Everyone shook their heads as they all wondered who Gouka was.

"I was wondering Kakashi…" Ranmaru looked over to his old friend.

"Yes?"

"What are your opinions on naruto's abilities?"

Kakashi rubbed his chin in thought. "Well…he lacks in strategy, genjutsu, as well as chakra control, and his taijutsu is alright but he could use more discipline. He really excels in ninjutsu and chakra capacity."

Ranmaru sighed. "What are his goals? Does he hope to accomplish anything?"

Kakashi chuckled. "Actually he hopes to become Hokage one day. He wants people to recognize him and respect him. He wants to protect his precious people and his village. He doesn't know when to quit during training or during a mission to protect his friends. What he lacks in skill he makes up in determination and loyalty."

Ranmaru huffed in amusement. "I would like to train him if I may. I bet through my training I could teach him the control and discipline he needs so that one day he may become a great hokage."

Hotaru furrowed her eyebrows in thought. Then she spoke for the first time since the conversation began. "Before we finish up this little gathering, I would like to make one request."

Kakashi and Ranmaru were both surprised. Kakashi nodded. "What's your request?"

"Seeing as we'll be in Konoha and Ranmaru is going to train Naruto, I was wondering if I could train Hinata. I will ensure that she becomes strong."

Kakashi shrugged. "It's not up to me. You'll have to take that up with the Hokage, her father and her sensei. But you should ask her; see if she'll agree to the training."

Ranmaru chuckled. "Oh man I feel sorry for Hinata-sama."

Everyone looked at Ranmaru like he just grew a second head. Seeing everyone's looks he decided to elaborate.

"Okay okay, you know how there are some clans that take training to the extreme. Think of the people you know that take training to the extreme."

Everyone thought of lee and gai. "Yeah we know people."

"Now multiply that by ten and you have the conditions of training that the Tsukishiro clan has. They are the bodyguards to the strongest man in our village, so the people who guard him must be his equal or his better. Hotaru here is stronger than me and that's the result of her families training."

Everyone looked at Hotaru with respect and awe.

Hotaru nodded and laid Ranmaru correctly in his bed before standing and pushing everyone, except Shizune, out of the room so that Ranmaru could rest.

…

(In the other room/living area)

Hotaru, Ryuusei, Kakashi, Hikari and Sai were sitting drinking tea. Koyuki, Naruto and Hinata were asleep in their rooms.

Hotaru was the one who broke the silence. "So where are the guys in green, the other Hyuuga and that weapons mistress?"

Kakashi put down his cup and looked up from his book. "They are patrolling the border of this village. We have to be alert in case anymore of them show up and attack."

Hotaru nodded and drank her tea.

Hikari hesitated a moment before setting her tea down and sighed.

"Hotaru-san, how do you know my…my onii-san?" she still couldn't believe those words.

Hotaru looked at the white haired girl over the rim of her cup, before setting it down and taking a deep breath. "Ranmaru and I met when we were kids. I was introduced to the next possible heir which was Ranmaru. I was to be his bodyguard when we came of age. I was the second child of my father and was unable to become a possible heir."

Hikari was confused. "How does one become the leader?"

"They way Ranmaru explained it was very vague. They way the succession works is, there were originally six clans, now there are five. The Batousei, Tsukishiro, Fuuma, Kozuki and kishimoto clans are the five clans. Each of the clan heads put up their first born for candidacy. They are to be trained to succeed the current leader. In my clan, the second child becomes the body guard to the Batousei clan's potential heir. Seeing how Shigure-dono only had Ranmaru and no "Legitimate" heir…" She emphasize legitimate with disgust in her tone. "He was the only possible choice for becoming the next leader."

"What happens to the second children from the clans? Do they also become body guards to another clan?" Sasuke was also interested in the selection of their leaders.

"The second children usually join the military and fight in wars or they can become body guards, but that usually happens if the two families had made pacts generations before. The Batousei and Tsukishiro clan were life long friends. We even combined our clan's generation's back. My family took the role of protector, instead of ruler. In turn we become the Batousei's body guards as a token of loyalty and faith. In return we have become their equals in strength or stronger. We proudly serve our friends."

"How do you know me?" Hikari had long forgotten her tea and was enrapt in the story.

"Your brother and I would train together. We've known each other practically since our birth. We were often put together so that we would grow a life long bond and become stronger for it. So it was only natural that I would know you. Ranmaru often brought you with him when he was training. Shigure-dono would watch over you and our training. Then when you were old enough to walk and learn you joined us in our training. You probably don't remember this but…" Hotaru snickered. "You used to call me taru-chan and…"

She pulled a scroll out of her weapons pouch on her hip. Applying chakra to the seals, a violin case appeared on the table. Hotaru opened the case and pulled out a mahogany violin. She tenderly ran her fingers across its glossy surface.

"You always enjoyed when I played this violin. After training or when it was a resting day, you would find me and want to listen to me play a song."

She drew the bow and, closing her eyes, began to play a song.

**(A/N: Listen to The devils trill sonata movement three: Don't own.)**

As Hikari listened to the sounds of the instrument, she was reminded somewhat of her childhood. She closed her eyes and lost herself in the musical notes. Then as the final notes faded into nothing, she opened her eyes and felt tears running down her face. She wiped them away quickly and smiled at the blond haired Tenjin.

She laughed happily with a smile on her face. "I remembered. I remembered those memories from so long ago. Hotaru-chan…taru-chan, arigatou, arigatou."

Sasuke didn't want to bring down the mood, but something had been bothering him. "Ranmaru mentioned that you were wounded on your back, how did that happen?"

Hotaru sighed. "I was hoping that you wouldn't ask that. But I'll tell you anyways."

She took a drink of her tea and steeled herself. "As I said before, I am the second child from my father. I had an Onii-san, named miroku, he was one year older than me and ten times stronger. He was the prodigy of my clan and was a shoe in to become the next ruler. Funnily enough, he and Ranmaru were best friends. After Shigure-dono was killed, Ranmaru, miroku and I joined the military. They were determined to become strong together and I wanted to grow strong enough to rival my brother. But luck never favored Ranmaru, and he witnessed another precious person to him. My Onii-chan, Ranmaru and I were returning to camp where we were stationed. We were at war with a neighboring village to the west on a nearby island."

Hotaru took a deep breath and looked down as she continued the story. "We were attacked just a mile from the camp. There were twenty of them, but they were no match for the three of us. What we didn't realize was that they had hired a shinobi from the mainland. He had been hiding and attacked when our guard was down. Miroku and I were taken down with little effort and Ranmaru was holding him off. Miroku reacted with out thought when he saw Ranmaru in trouble. He took a death blow meant for Ranmaru, and died right in front of him."

A tear ran down her cheek at the memory. "In a blood fueled rage, Ranmaru transformed into the form that you saw yesterday. After the shinobi was dead, Ranmaru headed toward the camp. I tried to follow but he was faster than I was. When I arrived, I saw the aftermath of my weakness. Almost all of our troops were dead, torn apart by their very own leader. Despite my wounds, I tried to subdue him, but failed. He attacked me from my blind side and wounded me, knocking me unconscious. The wound eventually became a reminder that I need to become stronger. I found out later that all of our troops were slaughtered and Ranmaru was imprisoned for a while. I found out that the one who sealed Ranmaru was my Otou-san and I was taught the technique. I hold no grudge against Ranmaru for the death of Miroku and will protect him until the day I die."

"So this wasn't the first time he transformed. But in the end there is a method to control him. That's good to know."

Hotaru nodded as she put away the violin and stood. "I'll be going now. We have to rest before we start our journey again."

"Matte, where are you guys headed?" Hikari didn't want her renewed friend to disappear from here life again.

Hotaru saw the desperation in the younger girls' eyes and chuckled before rubbing the top of hikari's head and walking to the door. Before she walked through the door she turned back to Hikari.

"Don't worry we won't be going any where. We just need to rest so that when everyone is rested we can go with you to Konohagakure. We want a new life and we want to make one in your village."

With that she walked out the door with Ryuusei in tow. Kakashi stood as well and cleared his throat.

"We should all go to bed as well. Team Gai will be taking over our mission and transporting the Daimyo back to her country. We are to head back home. So have your gear packed and ready to head out at seven in the morning. Well, good night."

Kakashi and Sai walked out of the room and head toward where he would be staying. Sasuke and Hikari sat there for a while before heading to bed too. Tomorrow they were going to head home and they needed rest.

…..

**Alright done. Hopefully you guys enjoyed it. I focused more on Hikari and Ranmaru but next its about Naruto and Hinata.**

**Anyway, what will happen to Naruto and Hinata? Will they stay together or will naruto's guilt tear them apart? When they return will Hinata have to marry a suitor or be able to stay with Naruto?**

**Tune in to the next Aishiteru Vol.2!**

**Next time: A New Day Dawns!**


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